author
Mrs. Coates
d. 1879
A prolific Victorian novelist, she wrote warm, moral tales for family readers and became especially associated with the Religious Tract Society. Publishing as Mrs. W. H. Coates, she helped shape a large body of 19th-century popular fiction.
1 Audiobook
How little Bessie kept the wolf from the door
by Mrs. Coates
About the author
Born Elizabeth Jones Youatt in London in 1816, she was the daughter of veterinary surgeon and writer William Youatt. She later married William Henry Coates in 1851 and also published under the name Mrs. W. H. Coates.
She was an English novelist best known for producing a large number of short novels for the Religious Tract Society. Her work was aimed at a broad family audience and is remembered for its strong storytelling and clear moral purpose, qualities that made books like How Little Bessie Kept the Wolf from the Door enduring examples of Victorian popular fiction.
She died on January 18, 1879. While detailed biographical records are limited, the surviving references consistently show her as a hardworking and widely published writer whose books were closely tied to the religious and domestic reading culture of 19th-century Britain.