eliza jervis was born on 23 december 1810 in wells, somerset, and was the eldest of the six children of a draper. after marrying a commercial traveller called walter warren in 1836 she moved to london. within a couple of years of being widowed unexpectedly in 1844 she started publishing needlework manuals. her next marriage in 1851, to frederic francis, a customs officer, lasted less than five years before eliza found herself a widow again. if she had any children they did not survive infancy.