Emma Lavinia Gifford
Emma Lavinia Gifford was the first wife of British writer Thomas Hardy.
Emma Gifford was born in Plymouth, Devon, onNovember 1840 The second youngest of five children, her father was John Attersoll Gifford, a solicitor, and she was named after her mother, Emma Farman Gifford. Emmas father retired early and relied on his mothers private income, so when her grandmother died in 1860, the family had to make economies and moved to a cheaper rented house in Bodmin, Cornwall. Emma and her elder sister Helen had to work as governesses and Helen became an unpaid companion to a lady in whose home she met her husband, the Reverend Caddell Holder. Emma joined her in 1868, to help with housekeeping and to run the parish.
Source: Wikipedia