Flora Jane Thompson ( 5 December 1876 -- 21 May 1947 ) was an English novelist and poet that was famous for her semi-autobiographical trilogy about the English countryside , Lark Rise to Candleford . Flora Jane Thompson ( 5 December 1876 -- 21 May 1947 ) was an English novelist and poet famous for her semi-autobiographical trilogy about the English countryside , Lark Rise to Candleford .