Charlotte Maria Tucker (1821–1893)

Charlotte Maria Tucker was a daughter of Henry St. George Tucker, an author and financier who served as chairman of the British East India Company, and his wife Jane Boswell. She was raised in London and as a child wrote poems and plays to amuse her family. Her first book The Claremont Tales was published in 1852. She went on to become a prolific and popular novelist and writer of short stories, tracts, and poems for children and adults -- she reportedly produced more than 150 books during the latter half of the 19th century. Many of her works are set in India, where she went to live in 1875 at the age of 54, having first taught herself Hindustani. There she worked as a volunteer missionary and taught in a boys' school. She donated most of the profits of her books to charities and religious missions. Her pen name A.L.O.E. stands for "a lady of England."