English author and poet Edith Nesbit (also known by her married name Edith Bland; she lived from 15 August 1858 to 4 May 1924) wrote novels for children under the pen name E. Nesbit. Over 60 of these novels were written by her or with her assistance. She was also a political activist and a founding member of the socialist group the Fabian Society, which eventually joined forces with the Labour Party. Nesbit, the daughter of agricultural chemist John Collis Nesbit, was born in 1858 at 38 Lower Kennington Lane in Kennington, Surrey (now a part of Inner London). Her father passed away in March 1862, just before she turned four. Sarah Green was her mother. The family spent some time traveling due to Mary, Edith's sister, having health issues. They lived in Brighton, Buckinghamshire, France, Spain, and Germany, among other places. Mary and the poet Philip Bourke Marston were set to marry in 1871, but she passed away from the disease in Normandy later that year. Although the Derbyshire village of New Mills has also claimed the honor, Edith and her mother spent three years after Mary's passing living at Halstead Hall in north-west Kent, the setting for The Railway Children.