Frances Blogg
| Frances Chesterton | |
|---|---|
 Frances with husband, Gilbert | |
| Born |
Frances Alice Blogg 28 June 1869 |
| Died |
12 December 1938 (aged 69) Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire |
| Language | English |
| Citizenship | British |
| Education | Notting Hill High School |
| Alma mater | St Stephen's College, Clewer |
| Genres | verse, song |
| Spouse | G. K. Chesterton |
| Relatives | Mary Margaret Heaton (aunt) |
Frances Chesterton, born Frances Alice Blogg (1869–1938) was an English author of verse, songs and school drama.[1] She was the wife of G.K. Chesterton and had a large role in his career as amanuensis and personal manager.
Early life
Frances was born on 28 June 1869, the first of seven children of George William Blogg and Blanche Keymer. She was educated at a progressive Ladies' School in Fitzroy Square run by Rosalie and Minna Praetorius, followed by Notting Hill High School. She trained as a teacher at St Stephen's College, Clewer, an Anglican convent establishment, graduating in about 1891. From 1895 she was employed as general secretary to the Parents' National Educational Union,[2] an organisation providing resources and support for homeschoolers in the United Kingdom in accordance with the educational ideas of Charlotte Mason.[3]
Marriage
She first met Gilbert Keith Chesterton in 1896 and married him on 28 June 1901 in St Mary Abbots, Kensington. Putting her duty to her husband first, she effectively worked as his manager, keeping his appointments' diary and his accounts, negotiating on his behalf with publishers, and hiring his typists.[4] According to John O'Connor, writing her obituary in The Tablet, "we owe much of his best and highest work to her never-failing enthusiasm", and it was she who came up with the aphorism, generally associated with Chesterton, "If a thing is worth doing at all it's worth doing badly."[5]
Personal life
In 1909 the couple moved to Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, where they lived to their deaths. Each Christmas she wrote a poem for their Christmas card, one of which, "How far is it to Bethlehem?", was later published as the hymn "Is It Far To Bethlehem?".[6]
Frances was received into the Catholic Church on 1 November 1926, four years after her husband.[7]
Death
She was widowed on 14 June 1936, and died on 12 December 1938.
Legacy
The Charity of Frances Alice Chesterton was established by her will and was registered as a charity in 1965 (registered charity number 252034). It supports the work of the Roman Catholic Church in the parish of Beaconsfield.
Further readings
- Nancy Carpentier Brown: The woman who was Chesterton : the life of Frances Chesterton, wife of English author G.K. Chesterton, Charlotte, NC : ACS Books, [2015] [©2015], ISBN 978-1-50510-478-3
References
- ↑ How Far is it to Bethlehem: The Plays and Poetry of Frances Chesterton, edited by Nancy Carpentier Brown (2012).
- ↑ Nancy Carpentier Brown, The Woman Who Was Chesterton (Charlotte, NC, 2015).
- ↑ Christina de Bellaigue, "Charlotte Mason, Home Education and the Parents’ National Educational Union in the Late Nineteenth Century", Oxford Review of Education, 41/4 (2015), pp. 501-517.
- ↑ "Requiescant", The Tablet, 17 Dec. 1938. Accessed 11 November 2015.
- ↑ "Requiescant", The Tablet, 17 Dec. 1938. Accessed 11 November 2015.
- ↑ Anne Thaxter Eaton, ed., Welcome Christmas! A Garland Of Poems (New York, 1955).
- ↑ "Requiescant", The Tablet, 17 Dec. 1938. Accessed 11 November 2015.