Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849-1924) was born in Manchester, England, on November 24, 1849 as Francis Eliza Hodgson. After her father's death, the family moved to Knoxville, Tennessee in 1865. Miss Hodgson began writing for magazines soon after. Her first short stories "Hearts and Diamonds" and "Miss Caruther's Engagement" were published in Godey's Lady's Book in 1868. Her first widely known work was a dialect story "Surly Tim's Trouble" which appeared in Scribner's Magazine in 1872.

Her reputation as a novelist was made with her story of Lancashire life, That Lass o' Lowrie's. A number of other works followed, with Through One Administration (1883) and A Lady of Quality among the most notable.

In 1886 she published Little Lord Fauntleroy, Her children's books, including The Secret Garden(1888> and Sara Crew (later rewritten to become: A Little Princess)(1909) are what she is best known for today, but her romance novels were very popular during her lifetime.

Frances married Dr. L. M. Burnett of Washington D.C. in 1873. In 1898 she divorced Dr. Burnett and married Mr. Stephen Townsend in 1900. This second marriage also came to an end in 1902. Frances became a US citizen in 1905. She died on October 29, 1924.