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At the Circulating Library

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

Author: Mrs. Wood

Author: Mrs. Wood (1825–1906)

Alternate Name(s): Catherine "Kate" Sankey (maiden name)

Biography: Catherine "Kate" Wood was born in 1825 in Kent, the daughter of Commander Henry Sankey, R. N. and his wife Frances Elizabeth (née Harrison). In 1846, she married army officer Henry Hastings Affleck Wood (1822–1904) and the couple had three sons and one daughter. Her husband served much of his career in India, so Wood may have lived for a time there as well. Some twenty years after her marriage, she wrote two undistinguished novels. Her publisher Newby deliberately cultivated confusion between his author and the more famous Mrs. Henry Wood. The couple retired to Boulogne-sur-Mer, France where Wood founded a tennis club. She died there on 25 November 1906.

References: British Census (1841, 1861); Burke; Probate

Fiction Titles:

  1. It May be True: A Novel.  3 vol.  London: T. C. Newby, 1865.
  2. Sir Cyrus of Stonycleft.  3 vol.  London: T. C. Newby, 1867.