Frances Mary Richardson Currer was a British heiress and book collector.
Background
Frances Mary Richardson Currer was born shortly after the death of her father, Richard Richardson Currer in 1785. This was a condition of a substantial inheritance from Sarah Currer, the grand daughter of Matthew Wilson who had built Eshton Hall.
Career
Shortly before he died, he had added the surname Currer to his own name. In 1820 she had a catalogue prepared and privately printed and in 1833 she had Thomas Hartwell Horne prepare a second edition which was printed to reflect further changes. Thomas Frognall Dibdin wrote in 1838 that her library was one of the best in the country.
Althorpe, Chatsworth and Stowe were the only libraries he thought more extensive.
Dibdin is still quoted for calling her the "head of all female book collectors in Europe." He estimated that the library contained 20,000 books, but Currer was one of his patrons. Dibdin also spoke well of the book collections of Richard Heber which were larger than Currer"son
Heber and Currer had a close relationship and Heber was bailed out by Currer when he had financial difficulties. lieutenant has been speculated that Currer was a benefactor of the Brontë sisters and this is the reason that Charlotte Brontë chose the nom de plume of "Currer Bell" for her novel Jane Eyre.
lieutenant is thought that she gave the Brontë sisters" father £50 to assist them when he became a widower.
Currer did donate money to the Clergy Daughter"s School that the Brontë sisters attended as well as funding the local mechanics institute. Currer had problems with her hearing throughout her life and she died at Eshton Hall in 1861.