Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall

Who was Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall?

Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall was a British author, particularly well known for her works of popular national history for children.

She was born in Bo'ness, Scotland, and her father was John Marshall JP, an earthenware manufacturer.

She was educated at a girls' boarding school called Laurel Bank, in Melrose.

Between 1901 and 1904 she was the superintendent of a hall of residence for female students at the University of Glasgow, but, otherwise, she appears to have made her living throughout her life by writing. She never married.

As is made clear by the Prefaces of her books from time to time, she travelled extensively after 1904, including to Melbourne, California and China, although her obituary in The Times stated that she spent most of her life in Oxford and in London, where she died.

H. E. Marshall is famous for her 1905 children's history of England, Our Island Story: A History of England for Boys and Girls, illustrated by A. S. Forrest. In the USA the book was entitled An Island Story. The book was a bestseller, was printed in numerous editions, and for fifty years was the standard and much-loved book by which children learned the history of England.