Alice Mona Alison Caird was an English novelist and essayist. Her feminist publications and viewpoints sparked debate in the late nineteenth century. She also pushed for animal rights and civil liberties, as well as helping to advance the New Woman's objectives in public. Caird was born in Ryde, Isle of Wight, the eldest daughter of John Alison of Midlothian, Scotland, who some biographies claim created the vertical boiler, and Matilda Hector, who according to the 1871 census was born in Schleswig-Holstein, which was then part of Denmark. He was born on May 24, 1854 and died on 4 February 1932. Her parents married on June 21, 1853, in St Leonards (near Glenelg, South Australia), with her father based in Melbourne and her mother Matilda, the eldest daughter of a prominent citizen. Caird authored stories and plays from an early age, demonstrating fluency in French, German, and English. Elizabeth Sharp, an art critic and wife of William Sharp, was a childhood acquaintance. In December 1877, she married James Alexander Henryson, the son of Sir James Caird. Her husband farmed over 1700 acres (688 ha) of properties in Cassencary, Scotland. He was eight years older than her and supported her independence.