Craik, Dinah Maria (1826-1887)

English novelist. She was the author of John Halifax, Gentleman (1857), the story of the social betterment of a poor orphan through his own efforts.

Born in Stoke-on-Trent, the Midlands, at the age of 20 she settled in London to write. Her first novel, The Ogilvies (1849), was followed by Olive (1850), The Head of the Family (1851), and Agatha's Husband (1853). John Halifax, Gentleman met with immense success not only in the UK but, through translation, in France, Germany, Italy, Greece, and Russia. Among her other works are A Woman's Thoughts about Women (1858), Thirty Years: Poems, New and Old (1881), and Concerning Men and Other Papers (1888).