Small image of a man handing a book to a women across a counter.

At the Circulating Library

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

Author: Isabella Eleanor Aylmer

Author: Isabella Eleanor Aylmer (1832–1908)

Alternate Name(s): Darling (maiden name); I. D. Fenton (pseudonym)

Biography: Isabella Eleanor Aylmer was born on 30 March 1832 in Bell's Hill, Northumberland, the daughter of George Darling and his wife Helen. In 1857, she married army officer Capt. Fenton John Aylmer, a veteran of the Crimean War, who died relatively young in 1862. The couple had four children, including Sir Fenton Aylmer (1862–1935). Aylmer wrote several fictional and nonfictional works, including Adventures of Mrs. Colonel Somerset in Caffraria (1858) and Memoirs of a Lady in Waiting (1860). In the late 1860s, she successfully applied to the Royal Literary Fund. She died in 1908.

Author Tags:

References: British Census (1841, 1851); RLF (case number 1779)

Fiction Titles:

  1. Adventures of Mrs. Colonel Somerset in Caffraria, During the War.  1 vol.  London: Hope, 1858.
  2. Memoirs of a Lady in Waiting.  2 vol.  London: Saunders and Otley, 1860.
  3. Alec Tomlin: or, Choose Wisely.  1 vol.  London: Frederick Warne, 1873.