Frances Hope was born on 3 April 1880 at Monnington, Wye in Herfordshire where her father, William Robins Smith, was Rector. On both sides of her family there were clergymen. Frances' mother's first name was Thermuthis, which, apparently, was the name the Greek's gave to the Pharoah's daughter who drew Moses out of the river and adopted him. Later, however, she appears to have changed this to Theodora. Frances' full name was Frances Essex Theodora Smith. Her first home was the Rectory in Monnington but, unfortunately, the 1891 and 1901 England Censuses could not be found. By 1911 Frances, now known as Essex Smith, was lodging along with her sister, Flora, now known as Florence, in a lodging house in St. Mawes, Cornwall. Both had private means'. Frances married William Hope, a clerk, at St, Andrew's Church, Fulham on 27 December 1917. So far it seemed that her life had taken a course that was not out of the ordinary. However, in the 1939 Register she gave her occupation as authoress. The name Essex Smith was her pseudonym. Further research revealed that Frances' mother, Thermuthis Kilvert, was the sister of Rev Francis Kilvert, (1840-1879) whose diaries written during his years as a clergyman in Langley Burrell, Wiltshire, were published about 50 years after his death. Frances is said to have inherited 29 volumes of diaries from her mother and in consultation with Kilvert's wife helped to prepare them for publishing before destroying all but three. Kilvert wrote emotionally, eloquently, in what might be considered to be poetic prose, about the natural world around him as he visited his parishioners. He also wrote about his own emotions, about his eye for pretty young girls. This would probably amount to nothing nowadays and he did not lose his position. Frances , as a writer, was also eloquent and emotional. One of her novels, Shepherdless Sheep is an intense, gloomy tale published in 1914, which tells the story of an oily character who founds the League of Lonely Souls', not out of sympathy but purely for profit. After listening to a charismatic preacher the congregation of unhappy people paid well for a brief hope that their lives will get better. Frances was widowed in 1929. It is not known if she had children.
In 1939 she lived with her sister at 4, West Avenue, Worthing, but died at Fernbank, 25, Gratwicke Road, Worthing, on 17 September 1964, aged 84, leaving the large sum of £55,322.