Language English Role Author Name Frances Blogg | Genres verse, song Citizenship British Spouse G. K. Chesterton | |
Born Frances Alice Blogg
28 June 1869 ( 1869-06-28 ) Education Notting Hill High School Relatives Mary Margaret Heaton (aunt) Died Beaconsfield, United Kingdom Alma mater St Stephen's College, Clewer | ||
Frances Chesterton, born Frances Alice Blogg (1869–1938) was an English author of verse, songs and school drama. She was the wife of G.K. Chesterton and had a large role in his career as amanuensis and personal manager.
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Early life
Frances was born on 28 June 1869, the first of seven children of George William Blogg and Blanche Keymer. She was educated at a progressive Ladies' School in Fitzroy Square run by Rosalie and Minna Praetorius, followed by Notting Hill High School. She trained as a teacher at St Stephen's College, Clewer, an Anglican convent establishment, graduating in about 1891. From 1895 she was employed as general secretary to the Parents' National Educational Union, an organisation providing resources and support for homeschoolers in the United Kingdom in accordance with the educational ideas of Charlotte Mason.
Marriage
She first met Gilbert Keith Chesterton in 1896 and married him on 28 June 1901 in St Mary Abbots, Kensington. Putting her duty to her husband first, she effectively worked as his manager, keeping his appointments' diary and his accounts, negotiating on his behalf with publishers, and hiring his typists. According to John O'Connor, writing her obituary in The Tablet, "we owe much of his best and highest work to her never-failing enthusiasm", and it was she who came up with the aphorism, generally associated with Chesterton, "If a thing is worth doing at all it's worth doing badly."
Personal life
In 1909 the couple moved to Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, where they lived to their deaths. Each Christmas she wrote a poem for their Christmas card, one of which, "How far is it to Bethlehem?", was later published as the hymn "Is It Far To Bethlehem?".
Frances was received into the Catholic Church on 1 November 1926, four years after her husband.
Death
She was widowed on 14 June 1936, and died on 12 December 1938.
Legacy
The Charity of Frances Alice Chesterton was established by her will and was registered as a charity in 1965 (registered charity number 252034). It supports the work of the Roman Catholic Church in the parish of Beaconsfield.