author
Lady Florence Henrietta Fisher Darwin
1864–1920
An English playwright with deep ties to Britain’s intellectual world, she wrote domestic and historical dramas marked by wit, feeling, and a sharp eye for character. Her life also connected her to two remarkable families: the Maitlands and the Darwins.
1 Audiobook
Six Plays
by Lady Florence Henrietta Fisher Darwin
About the author
Born in Kensington, London, on 31 January 1864, Florence Henrietta Darwin, Lady Darwin, was an English playwright. She was born Florence Henrietta Fisher, daughter of Herbert William Fisher and Mary Louisa Jackson, and she later became known through two marriages: first to the legal historian Frederic William Maitland, and then to Francis Darwin, son of Charles Darwin.
Her writing is best remembered for plays rather than novels, and her collection Six Plays helped preserve that side of her work. She moved in a lively intellectual circle, and that background seems to have fed the humane, observant quality of her drama.
Florence Henrietta Darwin died on 5 March 1920. Though not a household name today, she remains an appealing figure for readers interested in overlooked women writers, Edwardian literary culture, and the wider family world surrounding the Darwins.