Mary Crawford Fraser

Mary Crawford Fraser (April 8, 1851 – 1922), usually known as Mrs. Hugh Fraser, was a writer noted for her various memoirs and historical novels. Early life Mary Crawford was born in Italy on April 8, 1851. She was the daughter of American sculptor Thomas Crawford and Louisa Cutler Ward. She was sister to novelist Francis Marion Crawford and the niece of Julia Ward Howe (the American abolitionist, social activist, and poet most famous as the author of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic"). After her father's death in 1857, her mother remarried to Luther Terry, with whom she had Mary's half-sister, Margaret Ward Terry, who later became the wife of Winthrop Astor Chanler. Her father died when she was young, and she was raised in Italy, as well as in England and New Jersey. She was educated at a girls' boarding school run by the Sewell sisters, famous for their contribution to Victorian educational literature, on the Isle of Wight. The school received a number of pupils whose parents lived or worked in the British colonies and the sisters also took their charges on a number of foreign trips. She credits the school with providing her with many of the skills necessary to be successful as a diplomat's wife, including proper correspondence and social graces.