Mayor, Flora M. (1872–1932)
Mayor, Flora M. (1872–1932)
British novelist and short-story writer. Name variations: F.M. Mayor; (pseudonym) Mary Stafford. Born Flora Macdonald Mayor, Oct 20, 1872, in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, England; died Jan 28, 1932, in Hampstead, London; dau. of Rev. Joseph Mayor (professor of moral philosophy at King's College) and Jessie Grote Mayor (musician and linguist); had identical twin sister, Alice Mayor; attended Newnham College, Cambridge.
Began acting career which ended after illness; became a semi-invalid; never married and often used spinsterhood as theme for novels; works explore late-Victorian morality and inner lives of female characters; published Mrs. Hammond's Children under name Mary Strafford (1901), followed by The Third Miss Symons (1913), The Rector's Daughter (1924), considered her best work, The Squire's Daughter (1929), and The Room Opposite and Other Tales of Mystery and Imagination (1935).