Frances Epps

Who is Frances Epps?

Frances Epps was an English writer of educational works for children, a role in which she was particularly gifted. There is no biography, and even her dates of birth and death are unknown.

She was probably the author of Short Tales for Little Folk, published in 1889 by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. From 1890 she was contributing articles to the Parents' Review on subjects such as arithmetic, singing, French, needlework, and one entitled “Work for Gentlewomen as Elementary Schoolmistresses”. More substantially, she also wrote for this Review between 1906 and 1908 a series entitled ‘The British Museum for Young People’, describing what could be seen in the British Museum on Roman Britain, ancient Greece, Egypt, Babylonia and Assyria; this was published in book form in 1914.

From 1908 to 1910, she contributed a remarkable series of articles to Arthur Mee's well-known Children's Encyclopædia These articles, entitled "The Child's Book of All Countries", covered their history and geography and often described in vivid terms the life of their people. Here is an example of her style, concerning Britain: