Kate Marsden

13 May 1859 - 26 March 1931

A nurse and explorer, KM published a small but widely-circulated body of travel writing that at once documented her search for treatments for leprosy and served as tools for her to raise funds and awareness to support her ongoing work. She published two volumes focused on her expedition to Siberia along with related essays based on her public lectures. In its early stages her work was supported by prominent figures, including Queen Victoria , but it came under attack from critics who disputed the truth of her writing and integrity of her life.

Milestones

13 May 1859

KM was born in what was then the village of Edmonton, near London.

Baigent, Elizabeth. “Kate Marsden: 18591931”. Geographers Biobibliographical Studies, edited by Hayden Lorimer and Charles W. J. Withers, Continuum, pp. 63-92.

Late 1892

Diverse versions or editions of KM 's first and best-known book, her travel memoir On Sledge and Horseback to the Outcast Siberian Lepers, was published, illustrated with photographs and drawings.

OCLC WorldCat. http://www.oclc.org/firstsearch/content/worldcat/. Accessed 1999.

6 April 1893

Isabel Hapgood , an American writer and translator of Tolstoy , thrashed KM 's book, On Sledge and Horseback to the Outcast Siberian Lepers, in a review for The Nation.

Baigent, Elizabeth. “Kate Marsden: 18591931”. Geographers Biobibliographical Studies, edited by Hayden Lorimer and Charles W. J. Withers, Continuum, pp. 63-92.

26 March 1931

KM died of senile decay at Springfield Hospital , in Beechcroft Road, Wandsworth.

Baigent, Elizabeth. “Kate Marsden: 18591931”. Geographers Biobibliographical Studies, edited by Hayden Lorimer and Charles W. J. Withers, Continuum, pp. 63-92.

Biography

Birth and Family

13 May 1859

KM was born in what was then the village of Edmonton, near London.

Baigent, Elizabeth. “Kate Marsden: 18591931”. Geographers Biobibliographical Studies, edited by Hayden Lorimer and Charles W. J. Withers, Continuum, pp. 63-92.