ABSTRACT
Young was born in 1880 in Northumberland, the third child of six daughters and one son, to William and Frances (Venning) Young. Her father, a ship-broker, was a partner in the fi rm of Simpson, Spencer and Young. His name and profession suggest that he was a model for William Nesbitt in William, and one may very well wonder if her own father was as accepting of Young’s unconventional love life, as the novel’s William was of his daughter Lydia’s affair.
