The eldest daughter of a former Postmaster-general of Queensland, this popular lady novelist was born in that colony in 1851. Twenty-one years later she married Campbell Mackworth Praed, who died in 1901, two sons and one daughter being born of the marriage. It was not until she had been married eight years that Mrs. Praed published her first novel, " An Australian Heroine," and since then her output of novels has averaged about one a year. Her first real success was her third story, "Nadine," published in 1882. Mrs. Praed was not in England when the book was published, and the first intimation she had of its success was when a lady, a casual acquaintance at the hotel, came to her, and said she had a letter from a friend, who had told her of a book which was creating a furore in London. It was "Nadine." Mrs. Praed collaborated successfully with Mr. Justin Mccarthy in " The Right Honourable " and " The Ladies' Gallery," and a dramatic version of her widely-read novel, " The Bond of Wedlock," was produced some years ago by Mrs. Bernard Beere, under the name of "Ariane." Although passionately attached to her native country, Mrs. Praed has made her home in London for a number of years, and lives in a charming house in Kensington.

Mrs. Campbell Praed Elliott & Fry