Frances Catherine Barnard (

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

, Mrs. Alfred Barnard; 7 May 1796 – 30 January 1869) was an English writer, poet, and playwright. She was the author of various dramatic works and tales. Active in the 1800s, her work was published in England and in Australia. Much of her writing was related to the education of children. In the preface to ''Doleful Death and The Flowery Funeral of Fancy'' she wrote:— "For myself, if but one youthful mind become wiser or better from the perusal of my rhymes, I shall consider my trouble amply repaid".

Early years and family

Frances Catherine (sometimes spelled Katherine) Smith was born at

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, England, 7 May 1796; and christened on 5 June 1796 at Octagon-Presbyterian, Norwich. She was the eldest daughter and co-heir of Francis Smith, of Norwich (descendant of

Robert Pierrepont, 1st Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull Robert Pierrepont, 1st Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull (6 August 158425 July 1643) was an English nobleman who joined the Royalist side in the English Civil War after some delay and became lieutenant-general of the counties of Lincoln, Rutland, Hunt ...

) and Sarah (Marsh). Her uncle was Sir James Edward Smith, a successful botanist at the time who co-founded the

Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature collec ...

. On 10 Nov 1817, she married Alfred Barnard (b. Norwich, 1793) at St. Peter Mancroft, Norwich, gentleman, of the family of Barnard of Wansford Manor,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, Iselham Hall,

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

, Abington Hall,

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

, and Brampton Hall,

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England, which was historically a county in its own right. It borders Peterborough to the north, Fenland to the north-east, East Cambridgeshire to the e ...

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

s. Together they had 10 children between 1819 and 1830. Frances Hinderly was baptized in 1819, and Mary, in 1820. Their eldest son was Alfred Francis Barnard (1821–1894). Four baptisms occurred in 1836: Alicia Mildred, Robert, Frederic William, and Jane Catherine. Alicia Mildred Barnard (1825–1911) was a plant illustrator and a member of the Botanical Society of London. Francis (1823-1912) was a microscopist, chemist, druggist, as well as a member of the Botanical Society of London who emigrated from

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth ( ), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, m ...

, Norfolk to Australia. Two of her sons, Frederick William Barnard and Algernon Sidney Barnard, also moved to Australia, where Algernon was stabbed to death.

Career

Barnard authored and edited may books, writing under the name "Frances Catherine Barnard" and "Mrs. Alfred Barnard". Some of them included:
''Embroidered Facts''
(1836, Orr and Smith; book of plays)
''Doleful Death and The Flowery Funeral Of Fancy''
(1837, Harvey and Darton; poems) * ''Conversations at the Work-Table''
''The Schoolfellows; Holidays at the Hall''
(1845, Joseph Graham) * ''The Cottage and The Hall'' (1840) * ''The Life of a Negro Slave'' (1846, Charles Muskett; re-edited

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autob ...

of Charles Ball Barnard died at the age of 72 on 10 January 1869 in Norwich, and was buried in

Rosary Cemetery, Norwich Rosary Cemetery was the first non-denominational burial ground in the United Kingdom. Its entrance lies on Rosary Road in Norwich, Norfolk. It is a haven for wildlife and won a Community Biodiversity Award in 2008. History The cemetery was esta ...

References

Attribution

* * * *

Bibliography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnard, Frances Catherine 1796 births 1869 deaths Writers from Norwich 19th-century English poets 19th-century English dramatists and playwrights 19th-century English women writers Pseudonymous women writers 19th-century pseudonymous writers