Winifred Frances Peck (née Knox; 14 September 1882 – 20 November 1962), styled Lady Peck from 1938, was an English novelist and biographer.

Winifred was born in 1882 at 8 Merton Street, Oxford,^[1] the youngest child of Rev. Edmund Arbuthnott Knox and Ellen Penelope French, daughter of the missionary Rev. Valpy French.^[2] Her father was a fellow at Merton College, Oxford at the time of her birth and later was the fourth Bishop of Manchester (1903–1921).^[3] Her father was of Ulster Scots descent.^[4]

Knox was one of the first 40 pupils to attend Wycombe Abbey School, and she went on to read Modern History at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.^[5]

Knox's first book, written in 1909, was a biography of Louis IX.^[5]

Ten years after writing her first book, Winifred Peck began a novel-writing career which saw the publication of twenty-five books over a period of forty years, including House-bound (1942),^[6] which was reprinted in 2007 by Persephone Books. She also wrote two books on the subject of her own childhood, A Little Learning (1952) and Home for the Holidays (1955).^[7]

Peck was the sister of E. V. Knox, editor of Punch; Ronald Knox, theologian and writer;^[5] Dilly Knox, cryptographer; Wilfred Lawrence Knox, clergyman; and Ethel Knox. Her niece was the Booker Prize-winning author Penelope Fitzgerald who wrote a biography of her father, E. V. Knox, and her uncles, entitled The Knox Brothers.

In 1911, Knox married civil servant James Peck.^[5] They had three sons (the second predeceased his parents).^[8] When her husband was awarded a knighthood in 1938 she assumed the title of Lady Peck.^[9]

Lady Peck died in 1962.^[5]

In her Who's Who entry, Peck listed the following books by her:^[6]

Notes

References

Wikisource has original works by or about:
Winifred Peck

• Author Profile at Persephone Books
• House-Bound at Persephone Books