Henrietta Eliza Vaughan Stannard (née Palmer; 13 July 1856 – 13 December 1911), writing under the pseudonym of John Strange Winter, was a British novelist. She was founding president of the Writers' Club in 1892, and president of the Society of Women Journalists in 1901 to 1903.
Early life and education
She was born on 13 January 1856 in Trinity Lane, York, the only daughter of Henry Vaughan Palmer, rector of St. Margaret's, York, and his wife Emily Catherine Cowling. Her father had been an officer in the Royal Artillery before taking religious orders, and was descended from several generations of soldiers. Her great-great-great-grandmother was the actress Hannah Pritchard. Henrietta was educated at Bootham House School, York.
Career
In 1874, she began her career as a novelist by writing under the pseudonym of 'Violet Whyte' for the Family Herald. Her connection with that journal lasted for ten years, and she contributed to it 42 short stories issued as supplements, besides many long serials. In 1881, appeared Cavalry Life, a collection of regimental sketches, and in 1883 Regimental Legends. Both bore the name of 'John Strange Winter,' a character in one of the tales in the former volume. The publisher refused to bring out the books under a feminine pseudonym. The public assumed the author to be a cavalry officer. She retained the name for literary and business purposes through life.
Henrietta Palmer was married at Fulford, York, on 26 February 1884, to Arthur Stannard and they had a son, scriptwriter Eliot Stannard, and three daughters.
