Rachel Harriette Busk was a British traveller and folklorist.

She collected tales from Italy, Spain, Mongolia and elsewhere. Her collection included folklore

Folklore

Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...

, supernatural events, legends of saints, and humorous anecdotal material. Her work on Italian folklore was strongly influenced by the work of Giuseppe Pitrè

Giuseppe Pitrè

Giuseppe Pitrè , the great Italian folklorist was also a medical doctor, professor, and senator in Sicily. As a folklorist he is credited with extending the realm of folklore to include all the manifestations of popular life. He was also a forerunner in the field of medical historyPitrè was born in...

She was the youngest daughter of Hans Busk the elder

Hans Busk (1772-1862)

Hans Busk the elder was a Welsh poet, who published poems during the period 1814–34.His poems included titles such as "The Banquet", "The Dessert" and "The Vestriad"...

, and sister of Hans Busk the younger and of Julia Clara Byrne

Julia Clara Byrne

Julia Clara Pitt Byrne was a British author of memoirs about celebrities of her time, as well as more serious social commentary....

. She was also the sister-in-law of Sir Robert Loder, 1st Baronet

Sir Robert Loder, 1st Baronet

Sir Robert Loder, 1st Baronet DL, JP was an English landowner, magistrate and Conservative politician.Loder was the son of Giles Loder, of Wilsford Salisbury, and his wife Elizabeth Higgbotham, daughter of John Higgbotham, of St Petersburg. He was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge...

 through her sister Maria Georgiana.

She converted to Catholicism in 1858 and lived in Rome after 1862.