Meade was one of six children of the Reverend Richard Thomas Meade and his first wife, Sarah, nee Lane. She was educated at home by a governess and wrote her first book at the age of fifteen. This novel , Ashton Morton, was published several years later in 1866 by the London publisher, Newby. Meade received little encouragement for her writing from her father and moved to London after her mother's death and the remarriage of her father. On 20 September 1879, she married a solicitor, Alfred Toulmin Smith.
In the space of a few short years Meade established herself as a popular professional writer. She pioneered the girls' school story in the nineteenth century with A World of Girls (1886) but her 280 books encompass a wide variety of genres for adult and child audiences. She wrote 'city arab' tales of East End children, historical adventure stories, fantasies, domestic stories, island survival tales, nursing stories, detective, mystery and crime stories. Meade edited the the girls' magazine, Atalanta, from 1887 to 1893, turning it into a medium for good fiction and serious articles about schooling, careers and women's history. In 1892 she became an active member of the feminist Pioneer Club and in interviews presented herself as a 'new woman' who could manage family life, a professional career and participation in public life.
In critical terms Meade is seen as a conventional writer of popular fiction whose works are no longer in print. The Dictionary of Literary Biography (1978-) asserts that Meade's writing 'continues to have historical importance. Not only did she pioneer the new style of girls' school story, but also in telling the stories from the girls' point of view, she helped to create a separate, popular culture for girls.'
Only Meade's works with an Australian setting are listed in Austlit.
