Mrs Henry Wood

Ellen Wood was born on 17 January 1814 in Sidbury, Worcester, the second daughter of Thomas Price, a prosperous glove manufacturer, and his wife Elizabeth, nee Evans. For some reason, the young Ellen Price was brought up by her maternal grandmother and grandfather until the age of seven. During this time her main companions were servants who delighted her with local tales of ghosts and supernatural happenings and left her with a lifelong interest in local history which she would later draw on for many of her novels including Mrs Halliburton's Troubles (1862). Although her childhood was a comfortable one in financial terms it was also blighted by the ill-health that would plague Ellen Wood for the rest of her life. At the age o