Author: Fanny Du Tertre
Author: Fanny Du Tertre (1856–1918)
Alternate Name(s): Denzil Vane (pseudonym)
Biography: Fanny Du Tertre was born in 1856 in Nice, France, the eldest daughter of Alan Du Tertre and Emily Kinch. Her father cannot be traced and may have died before 1862. In 1862, Emily and her three daughters lived in London when she married John Vere Isham (1803–1883) as his second wife. They had a son, Vere Isham (1862–1941), later the Baronet of Lamport. Fanny turned to writing novels and contributing to periodicals under the pseudonym "Denzil Vane." Her career was marred by mental illness: at least thrice (in 1881, 1891, and 1895) she was admitted to an asylum for treatment as a private patient before the age of forty. In 1896, she married Alfred Keith Abbott (1841–1925), the first cousin of her half-brother, and the couple had one daughter, Marguerite Laura. By the turn of the century she was in all likelihood residing in an asylum since she is not found in the censuses living with her husband and daughter. According to her probate, she died on 28 March 1918 at the Fisherton House Asylum, Wiltshire. A rather sad case of literary promise cut short.
References: British Census (1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901, 1911); pers inf (Michael S. Clark; Phil Harper); Probate
Fiction Titles:
- Like Lucifer: A Novel. 3 vol. London: Hurst and Blackett, 1886.
- From the Dead: A Romance. 2 vol. London: Sampson Low, 1888.
- The Lynn's Court Mystery. 1 vol. London: Sampson Low, 1892.
- A Polish Conspiracy: or, A Wandering Star. 1 vol. London: Sampson Low, 1893.