About: Harriet Ward

Harriet Ward née Tidy (1808 – 1873), was a British writer whose work is sometimes thought of as South African literature. She lived in the Cape Colony for a few years and her best-known books are set there: the non-fiction Five Years in Kaffirland and the fictional Jasper Lyle, the first English novel set entirely in South Africa. She also wrote articles for a military audience, unusually for a woman of that era. Her writing has stimulated discussion about whether or not she agreed fully with British colonial attitudes.