Mary Augusta Ward

Mary Augusta Ward (née Arnold; 11 June 1851 – 26 March 1920), was a British novelist who wrote under her married name as Mrs Humphry Ward. Mary Augusta Arnold was born in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, in 1851 into a prominent intellectual family of writers and educationalists. She was the daughter of Tom Arnold, a professor of literature, and Julia Sorrell. Her uncle was the poet Matthew Arnold and her grandfather Thomas Arnold, the famous headmas... more

Mary Augusta Ward (née Arnold; 11 June 1851 – 26 March 1920), was a British novelist who wrote under her married name as Mrs Humphry Ward. Mary Augusta Arnold was born in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, in 1851 into a prominent intellectual family of writers and educationalists. She was the daughter of Tom Arnold, a professor of literature, and Julia Sorrell. Her uncle was the poet Matthew Arnold and her grandfather Thomas Arnold, the famous headmaster of Rugby School. Her sister Julia married Leonard Huxley, the son of Thomas Huxley, and their sons were Julian and Aldous Huxley. The Arnolds and the Huxleys were an important influence on British intellectual life. Thomas Arnold was received into the Roman Catholic Church on 12 January 1856, which made him so unpopular in his job (and with his wife) that he resigned and returned to England with his family. Mary Arnold had her fifth birthday about a month before they left, and she had no further connection with Tasmania. Thomas Arnold at... less