Background
Frances was born on 28 June 1869, the first of seven children of George William Blogg and Blanche Keymer.
Frances was born on 28 June 1869, the first of seven children of George William Blogg and Blanche Keymer.
She was educated at a progressive Ladies" School in Fitzroy Square run by Rosalie and Minna Praetorius, followed by Notting Hill High School, where she took the Cambridge Junior Examination
She trained as a teacher at Street Stephen"s College, Clewer, an Anglican convent establishment, graduating in 1891. From 1895 she was employed as general secretary to the Parents" National Educational Union. According to John O"Connor, writing her obituary in The Tablet, "we owe much of his best and highest work to her never-failing enthusiasm", and it was she who came up with the aphorism, generally associated with Chesterton, "If a thing is worth doing at all it"s worth doing badly."
In 1909 the couple moved to Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, where they lived to their deaths.
Each Christmas she wrote a poem for their Christmas card, one of which, "How far is it to Bethlehem?", was later published as the hymn "Is lieutenant Far To Bethlehem?".
She was widowed on 14 June 1936, and died on 12 December 1938. The Charity of Frances Alice Chesterton was established by her will and was registered as a charity in 1965 (registered charity number 252034).