She was born 8 October 1858 to parents Marcus and Jane (Thomas) King in Cleveland, Ohio, where her father was co-founder of the Ohio State and Union Law College. In 1890 she adopted the surname "Livingston" (from her maternal great grandfather) following separation from her first husband, Lieut. William Reeve Hamilton, who disapproved of her budding career as an actress. In 1892 she expatriated herself to England (and from her first husband) as foreign correspondent for the Boston Evening Transcript, supplying that paper with approximately 120 "letters" between 1892 and 1897 before devoting herself full-time to fiction, although she remained an occasional freelance journalist for the rest of her life. Two years after arriving in England she married well-known magazine editor, Charles Norris Williamson (1857-1920), whom she persuaded to appear as co-author for many of her books (later acknowledging her sole authorship). Less