Anna Harriett Drury

Anna Harriett Drury (also Harriet, 1824–1912) was an English novelist who wrote "conventional romances, with a few sharp observations on the role of unattached women in their relatives' houses". She also published poetry and other novels, some marked as intended "for boys". Life Anna Drury's birth is recorded in the 1901 census return as in 1824 in Harrow, Middlesex. Her father, Rev. William James Joseph Drury, and her grandfather, Rev. Mark Drury, had both taught at Harrow School, but they left sizeable debts when they withdrew in 1826. Through this Harrow connection, Drury became friends with Anthony Trollope, who later helped her in her literary work. Drury's father then became chaplain to King Leopold I of Belgium. While in Brussels, Anna Drury first met Frances Trollope, with whose family the Drurys were friendly. By then Anna Drury knew Greek and some Hebrew. She had begun creative writing as a child. After a period in London, Anna Drury moved to Torquay in 1866, where she became a close friend of Frances Mary Peard. The 1901 census return gives as her occupation "living by her own means (author)". She and two probable sisters of hers, Jane Emily and Sarah Frances, were boarders in a house that may have belonged to Thomas and Jane Tothill, who are also listed as resident there.