Houghton Library, Harvard University
Fisher Papers
Frances Calderón de la Barca
Frances Erskine Inglis, daughter of a prominent lawyer and Freemason, was born in Edinburgh in 1804. As the Marquesa de Calderón de la Barca, she died in Madrid’s Royal Palace in 1882. During her life she was a teacher and successful author. As the wife of a Spanish diplomat who eventually advanced to minister of state, she became a leading hostess in Washington, Mexico City, and Madrid. For all her obvious enjoyment of position, the foundation of her character was solid and staunch. In a life that alternated between security and turmoil, she could absorb misfortunes and deal with crises. Before her marriage and after her husband’s death, she earned her living for many years at a time when comparatively few women of her status worked for money. And she was always an infectious source of pleasure to friends. “Indeed it must be a sore trial that would sink her mercury,” wrote William H. Prescott, author of The Conquest of Mexico. The enviable buoyancy of disposition that comes through so clearly in her books and letters was diminished by time and grief but never wholly extinguished.