Louisa MacDonald was born in 1845, one of eleven children of part Scottish descent. Together with three of her sisters they were known as the ‘MacDonald sisters’ primarily because of their marriages to well-known men.

In 1866 she married the wealthy industrialist Alfred Baldwin in a double wedding with her sister Anne.

After giving birth to Stanley on the 3rd August 1867, who would go on to become Prime Minister, she drifted into an unhappy life in her then residence in Worcestershire. She had at least one miscarriage and days alone depressed and in darkness.

During the 1870’s the couple travelled to find a lasting cure and tried a variety of treatments which led to her recovery in 1883. She now became a leading figure in her local village of Wilden, near Stourbridge.

Her writing career of novels, short stories and poetry is often overlooked, as was the case with so many women, yet her works reveal many talents and a gift for melding odd and weird circumstances into seemingly everyday life.

Louisa Baldwin died in 1925.

1 - Louisa Baldwin - A Short Story Collection - An Introduction

2 - The Empty Picture Frame by Louisa Baldwin

3 - The Shadow on the Blind by Louisa Baldwin

4 - The Weird of the Walfords by Louisa Baldwin

5 - Many Waters Cannot Quench Love by Louisa Baldwin

6 - My Next Door Neighbour by Louisa Baldwin