Lillian Spender


Lillian Spender was an English novelist. As a widow she became active in education and social work in Bath.

Early years and education

Lillian Headland was born on 22 February 1835, and was the daughter of Edward Headland, a well-known physician of Portland Place, London. Her mother was the daughter of Ferdinand de Medina, a Spaniard. Spender was educated at Queen's College, Harley Street.

Career

In 1858, she married John Kent Spender, physician to the Mineral Water Hospital, Bath.
After her marriage, Spender turned her attention to literature. She contributed to the London Quarterly Review, the English Woman's Journal, the Dublin University Review, the British Quarterly Review, and to a magazine called Meliora; but after 1869, she chiefly confined herself to novel-writing. She was active in education and social work in Bath until her health failed.
She died at Bath on 4 May 1895. Of Spender's eight children, seven survived her. Two of her sons, J. A. Spender and Harold Spender, were well-known London journalists.

Selected works