Charlotte Despard (née French) (1844 – 1939) was a British-born, later Irish-based suffragist, novelist and Sinn Féin activist. She was born in Ripple, Kent. Her brother, John French, would become Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. She expressed regret of her lack of education although she attended a finishing school in London. She married businessman Maximilian Carden Despard, but was widowed when he died in 1890. They had no children. Her romantic novels included Chaste as Ice, Pure as Snow.