Frances Rowden

Frances Arabella Rowden, later Frances de St Quentin, (1774 – ) was a British schoolmistress and poet. Her students included Emma Roberts, Anna Maria Fielding, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Frances Anne Kemble and Rosina Bulwer Lytton.

Life Rowden was the first of four daughters born to Frances and Robert Rowden. She was born in 1774 and in 1779 her family moved to Henley-on-Thames where her father borrowed money from her aunt who ran a school (where she was educated). Her father who was a dealer in spirits and drugs died in 1782 in debt.

In 1801 she published A Poetical Introduction to the Study of Botany which was unusual in that it broke up the facts about botany with poems.

During Rowden's eventful career she had a number of notable pupils. These included actress Frances Anne Kemble, and the novelists Anna Maria Fielding, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Emma Roberts, and Rosina Bulwer Lytton.

She died around 1840.