Frances W. King
Six Poems
This is a slightly larger than usual small book and has only 4 pages, or 8 if you count the covers. The whole book is printed on thin card with poems inside the front and rear covers, which are held together by a single staple. There is no date and there are no printing details inside the book, just J.L. Carr's colophon on the rear cover, with his address and telephone number. This suggests that it was quite an early publication, perhaps in the late 1960s, before the area codes were added to telephone numbers and the four-digit number was dropped from the colophon.
Two impressions of this title are known, thanks to relations of the author, who contacted me about what is probably a second impresssion (see below).
The first impression has the name printed incorrectly on the front cover as 'FRANCIS W. KING' but the letter 'I' in the first name has been changed by hand to an 'E'. The copy I own is signed inside the front cover 'With love from Frances', so this was an error and the author is Frances W. King.
The second impression is printed in a different colour and has an oval label fixed to the front cover with the name 'FRANCES' spelled correctly.
This small book is not listed in JISC or WorldCat and there are no copies listed on secondhand book sites. The King family tell me that it was printed in about 1964, but I suspect that it's a bit later, probably 1967 or soon after. It was probably printed privately by Carr for Frances King in a very small edition that she paid for to give to relations and friends.
Frances Wake King was born in Greenwich on 22nd March 1896, to Arthur King and Louisa Wake King neé Cross. Her maternal grandmother had the surname Wake. Frances attended Roan Girls School in Greenwich until she was at least 17 years old and then studied English at Bedford College in London, graduating in 1917.
In the early 1930s she was second mistress at Mitcham County Girls School until 1937, when she was appointed Headmistress of Farnham Girls Grammar School. She remained there for 10 years until she had a career change in 1947 to spend a year at Woodbrooke College, a Quaker Study Centre in Birmingham, as a Research Fellow.
Frances Wake King in 1939
Frances King was then a member of staff in the Department of Education at Hull University from 1948 to 1956, a period during which she went to Madagascar with the Service Council of the Society of Friends. A search of the Society's catalogue lists ten items by Frances W. King including Reflexions (sic) on leaving Madagascar (1956), Training for leadership in Madagascar (1958) and Life in a developing country: Madagascar revisted (1968). A note made against an entry in the library catalogue of a poem entitled High calling - a sonnet on death helpfully records that she died on 12th August 1981, as the poem was in press. She was 86.
I wonder when, where and how Frances Wake King met Joseph Lloyd Carr?
(New entry on 11/11/2021; updated 4/7/2025)
P-FWK1: First impression
Publisher: J.L. Carr Publisher
Year: c 1967
ISBN: none
Size: 152 x 99 mm
Pagination: 4 pp
Staples: one
Binding: thin white card the title and author printed on the front and the Sun face colophon of J.L. Carr Publisher on the back
Paper: white card as thick as the cover
Editor: none stated
Cover artist: none
Internal illustrations: none
Rear and front covers (click to enlarge)
Number in series: none given
Colophon: Sun Face 1964 with address and telephone number
Telephone number: Kettering 4995
Printing history: none stated
Number of other titles listed: none
Printed by: not stated
Contents: To L.S.B.; The still point; Morning hymn; The meeting; The pool; Twenty years later.
Notes: The cover is printed in dark brown on a golden brown background. The name printed on the cover is 'FRANCIS W KING' which has been changed in pen to 'FRANCES W KING'. There are only six very short poems in this small book, and the whole thing is printed on card. There is no date and there are no printing details inside the rear cover, only the colophon shows that it was published by J.L. Carr.
P-FWK2: Second impression, assumed
Publisher: J.L. Carr Publisher
Year: c 1967
ISBN: none
Size: 152 x 99 mm
Pagination: 4 pp
Staples: one
Binding: thin white card the title at top and the name of the author printed on an oval paper label stuck to the front,presumably over the mis-spelled, printed name. The Sun face colophon of J.L. Carr Publisher on the back
Paper: white card as thick as the cover
Editor: none stated
Rear and front covers (click to enlarge)
Cover artist: none
Internal illustrations: none
Number in series: none given
Colophon: Sun Face 1964 with address and telephone number
Telephone number: Kettering 4995
Printing history: none stated
Number of other titles listed: none
Printed by: not stated
Contents: To L.S.B.; The still point; Morning hymn; The meeting; The pool; Twenty years later.
Notes: The name 'FRANCES W KING' is printed on a white sticky label presumably to cover the original. The cover of this impression is printed in black on white, presumably so that the label is less visible, otherwise it is the same as the first impression.
Credit: Thanks to Nick and Adrian King, the nephews of Frances, for contacting me about their copies of this title and for the information about the book and for the photograph.