Flora Annie Steel

Who was Flora Annie Steel?

Flora Annie Steel was an English writer. She was the daughter of George Webster. In 1867 she married Henry William Steel, a member of the Indian civil service, and for the next twenty-two years lived in India, chiefly in the Punjab, with which most of her books are connected.

When her husband's health was weak, Flora Annie Steel looked after some of his responsibilities. She acted as school inspector and mediator in local arguments.

She was interested in relating to all classes of Indian society. The birth of her daughter gave her a chance to interact with local women and learn their language.

She encouraged the production of local handicrafts and collected folk-tales, a collection of which she published in 1894.

Her interest in schools and the education of women gave her a special insight into native life and character. A year before leaving India, she coauthored and published The Complete Indian Housekeeper, giving detailed directions to European women on all aspects of household management in India.

In 1889 the family moved back to Scotland, and she continued her writing there.

Some of her best work, according to the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, is contained in two collections of short stories: