Frances Hodgson Burnett and "A Little Princess". Burnett enjoyed socializing and lived a lavish lifestyle. Beginning in the 1880s, she began to travel to England frequently and in the 1890s bought a home there, where she wrote "The Secret Garden". Her oldest son, Lionel, died of tuberculosis in 1890, which caused a relapse of the depression she had struggled with for much of her life. She divorced Swan Burnett in 1898, married Stephen Townsend in 1900, and divorced him in 1902. A few years later she settled in Nassau County, New York, where she died in 1924 and is buried in Roslyn Cemetery.
The Family Secret (1924 film) The Family Secret (1924 film) The Family Secret is a 1924 American silent drama film directed by William A. Seiter and featuring child star Baby Peggy. It is based on "Editha's Burglar", a story by Frances Hodgson Burnett first published in 1881 by "St. Nicholas Magazine" and adapted for the stage by Augustus E. Thomas. Margaret Selfridge (Hulette) lives with her affluent father, Simon (Currier) and her Aunt Abigail (Lucy Beamont) in a mansion in New York City. She is involved in a romantic relationship with Garry Homes (Earle), an honest man from a modest background. While walking through the