Biography

Extract: "Agnes Macdonell was born in 1840, the daughter of Daniel Harrison of Shirley House, Beckenham. She was the niece of author Mary Howitt. Macdonell spent seven years in the United States and met President Lincoln at the White House in 1863. In 1873, she married jurist and writer Sir John Macdonell (1845–1921) and the couple had two daughters. Macdonell wrote three novels: Martin's Vineyard (1872) set in America, For the King's Dues (1874), and Quaker Cousins (1879). She also contributed to the periodical press and assisted in her husband's productions. She died in 1925 in London." Likely referenced by Fanny Seward in her 1862-1863 diary on a visit to Washington, D.C., with her sister Margaret Ann Yarnall and brother-in-law Ellis Yarnall.