Mary Eliza Kennard

Mary Eliza's parentage and early life are described in a brief contemporary biography, which quotes her as saying "I fancy that any small love of literature which I may possess is hereditary, since my father, who is now chairman of the Brighton Railway, has written several important books, notably Modern Science and Modern Thought, Problems of the Future etc., whilst my grandfather, Mr S. Laing, was also a well-known author in his day.

[5] On 19 April 1870, at Saint Nicholas church, Brighton, Mary Eliza Laing married Edward Kennard (1842–1910), himself once a journalist, who became a landed gentleman by buying the Barn Estate on the borders of Leicestershire and Northamptonshire from the 18th Earl of Shrewsbury.

Kennard wrote kindly of her husband's choice of the Napier, but she preferred herself to drive a De Dion voiturette.

The Spectator gave it a poor review, suggesting that people who did not own an automobile would find the details of "belts, speeds, makes of car, &c...

[12] However, The Times later called Kennard "a very widely read and prolific author of the mid-eighties" who wrote "rattling good tales".

In its obituary, The Times said of her, "Large sums were earned by her publications; then came complete oblivion, which was viewed by the formerly popular favourite with serene detachment."