Mary Crawford Fraser, usually known as Mistress Hugh Fraser, was a writer noted for her various memoirs and historical novels.
Background
She was born in Italy to the American sculptor Thomas Crawford and Louisa Cutler Ward, and was the sister to novelist Francis Marion Crawford and the niece of Julia Ward Howe (the American abolitionist, social activist, and poet most famous as the author of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic"). Her father died when she was young, and she was raised in Italy, as well as in England and New Jersey.
Education
She was educated at a girls" boarding school run by the Sewell sisters, famous for their contribution to Victorian educational literature, on the Isle of Wight.
Career
She credits the school with providing her with many of the skills necessary to be successful as a diplomat"s wife, including proper correspondence and social graces. before the establishment of full and equal relations between Britain and Japan which Fraser was, in fact, negotiating.