Author: Emily Wilhelmina Spencer
Author: Emily Wilhelmina Spencer (1840–1909)
Biography: Emily Wilhelmina Spencer was born around 1840 in Wurzburg, Bavaria, the daughter of travel writer and novelist William Edmund Spencer and his wife Mary (nee Rennie). Due to her father's travels, she visited or lived in several countries in Europe including France, Germany, Russia, and Turkey. Her father lost much of the family's money on bad investments so she worked as a governess to support herself. In addition, she penned a novel The Last Grave of the Nibescos (1877) based on her translation of a work by Emile Vacano (which she freely confesses in her preface). By 1881, she and her sister returned to London. Late in life, Spencer lost her hearing. She never married and died on 5 September 1909 in Kent.
Author Tags:
References: British Census (1881, 1891, 1901); Allibone; A. Kumykov, "The Baron von Munchhausen of British Travel Writers," Caucasus Survey (2024); RLF (case number 1938)
Fiction Titles:
- The Last Grave of the Nibescos. 1 vol. London: Remington, 1877.