Rachel Ferguson, (1892–1957) was an English

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

and

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

. She wrote twelve novels, three memoirs, four satirical works, two biographies, and one play.

Life

Rachel Ethelreda Ferguson was born on 17 October 1892 at The Nest, Church Grove,

Hampton Wick Hampton Wick is a Thamesside area of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England, contiguous with Teddington, Kingston upon Thames and Bushy Park. Market gardening continued until well into the twentieth century. With its road and rail ...

. She was the third child of Robert Norman Ronald Ferguson, a Treasury Clerk, and his wife, Rose Geraldine (née Cumberbatch). Her grandfather was the physician Robert Ferguson. She was educated at home and then sent to a finishing school in Florence, Italy. By the age of 16 she was a fierce campaigner for women's rights and considered herself a

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to vo ...

: "I was as militant as authority allowed me to be. I wanted to go to prison but was refused on the score of age." She went on to become a leading member of the

Women's Social and Political Union The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was a women-only political movement and leading militant organisation campaigning for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom founded in 1903. Known from 1906 as the suffragettes, its membership and p ...

. In 1911 she became a student at the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central London ...

and began a career on the stage, using the name Rachel Verney. She also had a small role in the film '' The Ring and the Rajah''. When her theatrical career was cut short by the advent of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Ferguson joined the

Women's Volunteer Reserve The Women's Emergency Corps was a service organisation founded in 1914 by Evelina Haverfield, Decima Moore, and the Women's Social and Political Union to contribute to the war effort of the United Kingdom in World War I. The corps was intended t ...

and also took to writing in earnest. She wrote for '' Punch'' ("As far as I know, I was the first woman ever to sign her articles"), and was the drama critic for the ''

Sunday Chronicle The ''Sunday Chronicle'' was a newspaper in the United Kingdom, published from 1885 to 1955. The newspaper was founded in Manchester by Edward Hulton in August 1885. He was known for his sporting coverage, already publishing the '' Sporting C ...

'', writing under the name 'Columbine'. In 1923 she published her first novel, ''False Goddesses'', but it was not until 1931, when she published the absurdist novel ''The Brontës Went to Woolworths'', that she gained national recognition. She subsequently wrote ten more novels. Ferguson died in Kensington in 1957 at the age of 65.

Works

Novels

*''False Goddesses'' (1923) *''The Brontës Went to Woolworths'' (1931) (Reprinted as a

Virago Press Virago is a British publisher of women's writing and books on feminist topics. Started and run by women in the 1970s and bolstered by the success of the Women's Liberation Movement (WLM), Virago has been credited as one of several British femin ...

in 1988 and as part of the

Bloomsbury Group The Bloomsbury Group was a group of associated British writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists in the early 20th century. Among the people involved in the group were Virginia Woolf, John Maynard Keynes, E. M. Forster, Vanessa Bell, a ...

in 2009) *''The Stag at Bay'' (1932) *''Popularity's Wife'' (1932) *''A Child in the Theatre'' (1933) *''A Harp in Lowndes Square'' (1936) (Reprinted by Dean Street Press in 2016) *''Alas, Poor Lady'' (1937) (Reprinted by

Persephone Books ''Persephone Books'' is an independent publisher based in Bath, England. Founded in 1999 by Nicola Beauman, Persephone Books reprints works largely by women writers of the late 19th and 20th century, though a few books by men are included. Th ...

in 2006) *''A Footman for the Peacock'' (1940) (Reprinted by Dean Street Press in 2016) *''Evenfield'' (1942) (Reprinted by Dean Street Press in 2016) *''The Late Widow Twankey'' (1943) *''A Stroll Before Sunset'' (1946) *''Sea Front'' (1954)

Memoir

*''Passionate Kensington'' (1939) *''Royal Borough'' (1950) *''We Were Amused'' (1958)

Satire

*''Sara Skelton: The Autobiography of a Famous Actress'' (1929) *''Victorian Bouquet: Lady X Looks On'' (1931) *''Nymphs and Satires: Humorous Sketches'' (1932) *''Celebrated Sequels'' (1934)

Biography

*''Memoirs of a Fir Tree: The Life of Elsa Tannenbaum'' (1946) *''And Then He Danced: The Life of Espinosa by Himself'' (1946)

Play

*''Charlotte Brontë: A Play in Three Acts'' (1933)

References

External links

*
Oxford DNBAuthor's Page Persephone Books
*

''at Persephone Books {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, Rachel 1892 births 1957 deaths English women novelists 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English women writers