Jane Austen, the Brontes, George Elliot, Mary Shelley, Elizabeth Browning and ... er ...

One quickly runs out of names when trying to think of famous female authors and poets before the 1900s, let alone Kent ones.

And that makes it all the more sad that a Kentish author and poetess is so grossly overlooked.

Primogene Duvard may possibly have been born in Allerton, Yorkshire, in 1823, but her mother, Frances, came from an old Borden family named Wise, and Primogene was certainly living in the village in the 1870s when her most famous works were published by the Sittingbourne company H.T.Tidy. She ended her days at Pond Farm in Borden in 1877, aged only 54.

She wrote two highly successful historical plays: Flora MacDonald, a drama in three acts, and Mary Tudor, a drama in five.

In addition there were several volumes of poetry, including The Angel Of Death. Many of her works are still in print today.

Despite this, she spent much of her life in poverty. In December 1947, she and her mother published an appeal in the London Daily News asking for assistance.

It read: "Mrs Duvard and her daughter, Primogene Duvard, authoress of several publications, having become through a variety of circumstances over which they have no control, reduced to a state of utmost distress, solicit the aid of their friends to relieve their present difficulties, and enable them to recommence business for themselves in future.

"Mrs Duvard has during a period of 10 weeks suffered severely from sciatica and acute rheumatism, which threatens to disable her through the winter, and as she is somewhat advanced in life and afflicted with other serious complaints, and Miss Duvard's health will not admit her of obtaining a livelihood entirely by her own exertions due to the illness of her mother."

Contributions were requested to be sent to their home in Borden.

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