Author: Annie Stuart King
Author: Annie Stuart King (1852–1938)
Alternate Name(s): Rodd (married name)
Biography: Annie Stuart King was born on 15 November 1852 in Stone, Kent, the eldest daughter of clergyman Walker King. Her father was the long-time rector of Leigh-on-Sea, Essex; her brothers were the English footballers Charles James Stuart King and Robert Stuart King; and her uncle Edward King was the Bishop of Lincoln. As a young woman, King wrote an anonymous novel Robert Easton (1876) based on her charitable work with the local fisher boys. The sales of the book helped fund improvements to the parish church. She later wrote another novel published under her own name. In 1879, she married Edward Stanhope Rodd and the couple had a son. The couple became a fixture in the neighborhood of Chardstock where King threw herself into charitable activities. In 1922, her husband inherited his family estate in Trebartha, Cornwall and the family subsequently moved there. She died on 13 December 1938 at Trebartha Hall. Note: authorship established through letters in the Leigh Heritage Centre.
References: British Census (1861, 1871); pers inf (Jennifer and Ed Simpson)
Fiction Titles:
- Robert Easton: A Story for Fisher-Boys. 1 vol. London: S. P. C. K., 1876.
- Alfie, the Street Boy: or, Hardly Won. 1 vol. London: A. R. Mowbray, 1878.