Mrs. Humphry Ward (Mary Augusta Ward)

Humphry Ward is the pen name of the British woman writer Mary Augusta Ward (née Arnold), who lived from 1851 to 1920 and usually published as "Mrs. Humphry Ward." The library holds three of her works, including the children's book Milly and Olly, the novel Marriage a la mode, and Lady Merton, Colonist, classified on this site under inspirational and coming-of-age writing. Her best-known novel, Robert Elsmere, caused a sensation in its day, and her fiction generally explores the religious, moral, and social questions of the Victorian era, with a realistic touch and close attention to her characters' circumstances and ethical dilemmas. Public information on the details of her life is limited, so this note confines itself to reliable facts about her writing and its influence.