Frances Kingsley born Frances Eliza Grenfell (1814 – 12 December 1891) was a British biographer of her husband

Charles Kingsley Charles Kingsley (12 June 1819 – 23 January 1875) was a broad church priest of the Church of England, a university professor, social reformer, historian, novelist and poet. He is particularly associated with Christian socialism, the workin ...

Life

Kingsley was born in Taplow House near

Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England. It lies on the southwestern bank of the River Thames, which at this point forms the border with Buckinghamshire. In the 2021 Census, ...

. Her father was the businessman and politician

Pascoe Grenfell Pascoe Grenfell (3 September 1761 – 23 January 1838) was a British businessman and politician. Biography He was born at Marazion, in Cornwall. His father, Pascoe Grenfell (1729–1810), and uncle were merchants in the tin and copper business ...

. Her mother, Pascoe's second wife, was the Honourable Georgiana St Leger, daughter of

St Leger St Leger, 1st Viscount Doneraile St Leger St Leger, 1st Viscount Doneraile, 2nd creation (born St Leger Aldworth; died 15 May 1787) was an Anglo-Irish politician and peer, who was a member of Parliament for Doneraile from 1749 to 1776. He is known for his conviction for assault ...

. Frances was born into a large family that included six elder sisters. Her mother died when she was a child in 1818 and like her sisters she was educated at home. Her eldest brother Pascoe St Leger Grenfell continued her father's business in Swansea and helped found South Australia and his son, Francis Wallace Grenfell, was a

Field Marshall Field-Marshall was a brand of tractor, farm tractor which was manufactured by Marshall, Sons & Co. of Gainsborough, Lincolnshire in the United Kingdom. Field-Marshalls were in production from 1945 to 1957. However, the first single-cylinder Ma ...

. When she was in her twenties the idea of entering a religious sisterhood was discussed between herself and three of her sisters. All four of them had been educated at home. Frances was well-read and they all had a religious Catholic interest which followed the

Oxford Movement The Oxford Movement was a theological movement of high-church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the Un ...

. Her father had died in 1838 and her half brother became head of the family. The four of them were attracted by a movement to reestablish nuns within the Anglican denomination. Frances abandoned these thoughts after she met

on 6 July 1839. She was six years younger than him and her half-brother, Charles and her family, did not approve of this unconventional Oxford undergraduate. She married Charles in the town of Bath on 10 January 1844 although she thought that they were married spiritually in 1839. Although she encouraged Charles to enter the church it is clear from their letters that celibacy was not a high priority. Her husband was employed in Dorset and he became the curate of

Eversley Eversley is a village and civil parish in the Hart District, Hart district of Hampshire, England. The village is located around northeast of Basingstoke and around west of Yateley. The River Blackwater (River Loddon), River Blackwater, and ...

in Hampshire and this enabled then to live together. In time he became the rector. In 1850 her husband published ''Alton Locke'' and she is thought to be the basis for the character of Eleanor in the book. In 1869 she listened at a meeting on women's suffrage with her husband, but she was usually based at home because of ill-health and their family. Her husband died in 1875 and he was buried at Eversley. A memorial was unveiled at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

in 1876, which was where Charles could have been buried. She worked on his biography which was published as ''Charles Kingsley: His Letters and Memories of His Life'' in London and in New York in 1877. In 1884 her eldest daughter Rose started a school for girls in Leamington Spa that is now called The Kingsley School. She died in Tachbrook Mallory House in 1891.

Private life

She and Charles had four children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kingsley, Frances 1814 births 1891 deaths People from Maidenhead British women biographers

Frances Frances is an English given name or last name of Latin origin. In Latin the meaning of the name Frances is 'from France' or 'the French.' The male version of the name in English is Francis (given name), Francis. The original Franciscus, meaning "F ...