Juliet Bredon

Juliet Bredon, also known as Juliet Lauru, was a writer born around 1881 who spent much of her life in China. She grew up there in a family closely connected to the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs Service: her father was Sir Robert Edward Bredon, and her uncle was Sir Robert Hart.

Her writing drew heavily on lived experience. Sources note that she was educated with both English and Chinese tutoring, lived through the Boxer Rebellion, and later wrote about Chinese customs, rituals, festivals, and daily life. She became especially associated with books on Beijing, including Peking: A Historical and Intimate Description of Its Chief Places of Interest, as well as works such as The Moon Year and Sir Robert Hart: The Romance of a Great Career.

Bredon died on December 12, 1937. Her work still stands out for the way it introduced many English-language readers to pre-revolutionary China through travel writing, cultural observation, and biography.