Irene Osgood

Irene Osgood was an American novelist, poet and dramatist. She was born near Richmond, Virginia, in 1875 and spent most of her life in England. She was a daughter of John De Belot (she changed her name by deed poll to Irene Osgood). Among her novels were 'To a Nun Confessed', 'Servitude', 'Behind the Fan', 'The Garden of Spices', 'The House of Dolls', 'A Mother of Dreams', 'The Indelicate Duellist','An Idol's Passion', 'The Chant of A Lonely Heart', and other works, including many short stories. One of her latest works before she died was the drama' Une Aventure de Capitane Lebrun', produced in 1913 at the Theatre Molière, Paris. Osgood was twice married. Her first husband was Charles Piggot Harvey. Her second husband was Robert Sherard, an English author and great-grandson of the poet Wordsworth. She divorced him in 1915, causing a sensation at the time. In 1911 Sherard had brought a court case against his wife, claiming that he had written a number of the books published under her name. She died in 1922 at Guilsborough Hall, her Northamptonshire residence.