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Margaret Oliphant Wilson Oliphant (née Margaret Oliphant Wilson) (4 April 1828 – 25 June 1897), was a Scottish novelist and historical writer, who usually wrote as Mrs. Oliphant. Her fictional works encompass "domestic realism, the historical novel and tales of the supernatural".〔Oliphant, Margaret. ''Miss Majoribanks.'' Ed. Elisabeth Jay. New York: Penguin Classics, 1999, p. vii.〕 ==Life== The daughter of Francis W. Wilson (c.1788–1858), a clerk, and his wife, Margaret Oliphant (c.1789–1854), she was born at Wallyford, near Musselburgh, East Lothian, and spent her childhood at Lasswade (near Dalkeith), Glasgow and Liverpool. As a girl, she constantly experimented with writing. In 1849 she had her first novel published: ''Passages in the Life of Mrs. Margaret Maitland''. This dealt with the Scottish Free Church movement, with which Mr. and Mrs. Wilson both sympathised, and met with some success. It was followed by ''Caleb Field'' in 1851, the year in which she met the publisher William Blackwood in Edinburgh and was invited to contribute to the famous ''Blackwood's Magazine''. The connection was to last for her whole lifetime, during which she contributed well over 100 articles, including, a critique of the character of Arthur Dimmesdale in Nathaniel Hawthorne's ''The Scarlet Letter''. In May 1852, she married her cousin, Frank Wilson Oliphant, at Birkenhead, and settled at Harrington Square in London. An artist working mainly in stained glass, her husband had delicate health, and three of their six children died in infancy,〔According to Elizabeth Jay, in the introduction of Margaret Oliphant's ''(Autobiography )'' (published in 2002), p. 9, one of these children died aged one day, another one, Stephen Thomas, died at nine weeks, Marjorie, the other daughter, died aged about eight months. The surviving children were Maggie (died in 1864), Cyril Francis, "Tiddy" (died in 1890) and Francis Romano, "Cecco" (died in 1894). However, ''The Victorian Web'' mentions seven children.See also Elisabeth Jay: Oliphant, Margaret Oliphant... In: ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (Oxford: OUP, 2004). (Retrieved 14 November 2010. Subscription required. ) for the countless dependents she supported through much of her life.〕 while the father himself developed alarming symptoms of consumption. For the sake of his health they moved in January 1859 to Florence, and then to Rome, where Frank Oliphant died. His wife, left almost entirely without resources, returned to England and took up the burden of supporting her three remaining children by her own literary activity. She had now become a popular writer, and worked with amazing industry to sustain her position. Unfortunately, her home life was full of sorrow and disappointment. In January 1864 her only remaining daughter Maggie died in Rome, and was buried in her father's grave. Her brother, who had emigrated to Canada, was shortly afterwards involved in financial ruin, and Mrs. Oliphant offered a home to him and his children, and added their support to her already heavy responsibilities. In 1866 she settled at Windsor to be near her sons who were being educated at Eton. That year, her second cousin, Annie Louisa Walker, came to live with her as a companion-housekeeper. This was her home for the rest of her life, and for more than thirty years she pursued a varied literary career with courage scarcely broken by a series of the gravest troubles. The ambitions she cherished for her sons were unfulfilled. Cyril Francis, the elder, died in 1890, leaving a ''Life of Alfred de Musset'', incorporated in his mother's ''Foreign Classics for English Readers'', The younger, Francis (whom she called "Cecco"), collaborated with her in the ''Victorian Age of English Literature'' and won a position at the British Museum, but was rejected by Sir Andrew Clark, a famous physician. Cecco died in 1894. With the last of her children lost to her, she had but little further interest in life. Her health steadily declined, and she died at Wimbledon, London, on 25 June 1897.〔(''"Death of Mrs. Oliphant: Cancer Ends the Career of the Famous English Novelist and Historian,"'' ) The New York Times, 27 June 1897.〕 In the 1880s she was the literary mentor of the Irish novelist Emily Lawless. During this time Oliphant wrote several works of supernatural fiction, including the long ghost story ''A Beleaguered City'' (1880) and several short tales, including "The Open Door" and "Old Lady Mary".〔Mike Ashley , ''Who's Who in Horror and Fantasy Fiction''. Elm Tree Books, 1977. ISBN 0-241-89528-6. (p.142)〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Margaret Oliphant」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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