Life and works

She was born Florence Harriet Montgomery in Chelsea

Chelsea, London

Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 on 17 January 1843, the second of the seven surviving children of Admiral Alexander Leslie Montgomery (1807–1888) and his wife Caroline Rose Campbell (1818–1909) of Hampton Court, Middlesex

Middlesex

Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...

. Her father was also an MP. He succeeded to a baronetcy in 1878. He was a cousin of the novelist Baroness von Tautphoeus (1807–1893).

Florence Montgomery's story-telling abilities were first tried on younger brothers and sisters, but the novelist G. J. Whyte-Melville saw a story of hers printed for a charity bazaar, about a golden-haired girl whose mother dies of scarlet fever

Scarlet fever

Scarlet fever is a disease caused by exotoxin released by Streptococcus pyogenes. Once a major cause of death, it is now effectively treated with antibiotics...

, and advised that it should be published. A Very Simple Story appeared commercially in 1867 with illustrations by her cousin, Sibyl Montgomery (d. 1935), first wife of the Marquess of Queensberry

John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry

John Sholto Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry GCVO was a Scottish nobleman, remembered for lending his name and patronage to the "Marquess of Queensberry rules" that formed the basis of modern boxing, for his outspoken atheism, and for his role in the downfall of author and playwright Oscar...

 and mother of Lord Alfred Douglas

Lord Alfred Douglas

Lord Alfred Bruce Douglas , nicknamed Bosie, was a British author, poet and translator, better known as the intimate friend and lover of the writer Oscar Wilde...

 (1870–1945).

Montgomery drew a distinction between her stories for children and her stories about children, which were intended for an adult audience as an encouragement to recognize children's merits. Misunderstood (1869), for instance, with an unperceptive father and a son thoughtful and loving before dying young. Seaforth (1878) was a full-length novel for adults. Almost all her work is pious in tone and set in fashionable society. They continued to sell into the 20th century. Almost all were translated into German and French, and some into Italian, Dutch and Russian. Film versions of Misunderstood were made by Luigi Comencini

Luigi Comencini

Luigi Comencini was an Italian film director. Together with Dino Risi, Ettore Scola and Mario Monicelli, he was considered among the masters of the commedia all'italiana genre....

 (Incompreso) in 1966 and Jerry Schatzberg

Jerry Schatzberg

Jerry Schatzberg is a photographer and film director.-Career:Schatzberg was born to a Jewish family of furriers and grew up in the Bronx. He photographed for magazines such as Vogue, Esquire and McCalls. He made his debut as a feature film director with 1970's Puzzle of a Downfall Child starring...

 in 1984.

Montgomery died on 8 October 1923 in the family home in Belgravia

Belgravia

Belgravia is a district of central London in the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Noted for its immensely expensive residential properties, it is one of the wealthiest districts in the world...

, London where she had lived with two likewise unmarried sisters.