[2] Molesworth was born in Rotterdam, a daughter of Charles Augustus Stewart (1809–1873), who later became a rich merchant in Manchester, and his wife Agnes Janet Wilson (1810–1883).

[4] Molesworth is best known as a writer of books for children, such as Tell Me a Story (1875), Carrots (1876), The Cuckoo Clock (1877), The Tapestry Room (1879), and A Christmas Child (1880).

"[5] In the judgement of Roger Lancelyn Green: Mary Louisa Molesworth typified late Victorian writing for girls.

Aimed at girls too old for fairies and princesses but too young for Austen and the Brontës, books by Molesworth had their share of amusement, but they also had a good deal of moral instruction.

[6]Typical of the time, her young characters often use a lisping style, and words may be misspelt to represent children's speech—"jography" for geography, for instance.