Florence Stoker, the woman who copyrighted Dracula

Florence Balcombe at seventeen, courted by Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker

Florence Anne Lemon Balcombe was one of five daughters born to Lt. Col. James and Phillipa Balcombe in 1858 in Ireland. Even without a dowry, at seventeen years of age, Florence caught the eye of fellow Dubliner, Oscar Wilde.

“She is just 17 with the most perfectly beautiful face I ever saw and not a sixpence of money.”