Cynthia Stockley
Cynthia Stockley | |
---|---|
Born | Lilian Julian Webb 7 July 1873 Bloemfontein South Africa |
Died | 15 January 1936 London England | (aged 62)
Occupation | Writer |
Education | St. Michael's School, Bloemfontein |
Notable works |
|
Spouse |
|
Children |
|
Cynthia Stockley (7 July 1873 - 15 January 1936) was a best-selling novelist in Britain, America, and Australia known for her romance novels usually set in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and South Africa.
Biography
Born in Bloemfontein, South Africa,[1] the fifth of 6 children.[2] Her mother, Mary Ann Webb (Corbett) emigrated from Co. Clare Ireland aged 18 in 1859 pp168–169[3] whilst her father, Abel Arthur Webb, arrived from Northamptonshire England aged 23 in 1861 pp14.[4]
Her mother died when Cynthia was 2. Her father subsequently remarried and Cynthia then lived with her 4 remaining siblings (one died in infancy), her step-mother, a half-sister and 2 half-brothers. After attending St. Michael's School, Bloemfontein she moved to live with her sister in Mashonaland.
In 1895 she married[5] Philip Stockley (1870-1917), a member of the Mashonaland Mounted Police, in Salisbury (now Harare). They moved to Umtali (now Mutare) where her daughter Dorothy was born in 1896.
The Stockleys separated later in 1896: she to take up a career in journalism and writing, he to participate in the Boer War. Thinking Philip had been killed in the Boer War, she remarried. Her husband was Joseph Byrne (1870-1945), an Irish doctor in New York; their son Patrick was born there in 1905 pp99.[4]
She also worked as an actress and bought a farm in Rhodesia and a house in Norfolk. In 1916 married Harold Pelham Browne (1880 -1939), an officer in the British army serving in Paris pp288.[4]
Stockley died in London in January 1936, having gassed herself in her apartment. Her death was reported in newspapers around the world. The coroner returned a verdict of death by gas poisoning ‘whilst of unsound mind’.[6] She is buried in Sheringham, Norfolk.
Novels
Her 16 books included:
- Virginia of the Rhodesians, London: Hutchinson 1903
- Poppy: the Story of a South African Girl, London: Hurst and Blackett 1909
- The Claw, London: Hurst and Blackett 1911
- The Dream Ship [Wanderfoot in America], London: Hurst and Blackett 1913
- Blue Aloes: Stories of South Africa, London: Hutchinson 1918
- Ponjola, London: Constable 1923
- Tagati, London: Constable 1930
Films
With the advent of silent film several of her books were made into films:
- Poppy (1917)
- The Claw (1918)
- Wild Honey (1922)
- Ponjola (1923)
- The Female (1924)
- The Claw (1927)
Further reading
- McLoughlin, Tim and Betty (2015). Veld Girl: Cynthia Stockley - A life recreated. Sweden: Elementa. ISBN 9176370127.
References
- ^ Sacred Heart Cathedral in Bloemfontein Baptismal records 1850-1890 record 501 p49
- ^ Mother's death certificate Bloemfontein
- ^ Esme Bull, Aided Emigration from Britain to South Africa 1857 to 1867, ed. J.L.Basson (1991)
- ^ a b c Veld Girl: Cynthia Stockley - A life recreated by Tim and Betty Mcloughlin ISBN 9176370127
- ^ Rhodesia Herald 10 May 1895
- ^ Belfast Telegraph 17 January 1936, p.17