Margaret (Wilson) Oliphant (1828 - 1897)

Born 4 Apr 1828 in Wallyford, Midlothian, Scotland

Wife of Francis Wilson Oliphant — married May 1852 in Birkenhead, Cheshire, England

Died 25 Jun 1897 at age 69 in Wimbledon, Surrey, England

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Biography

Margaret (Wilson) Oliphant is a member of Clan Oliphant.

Early Life

Margaret was the daughter of Francis W. Wilson 1788–1858, a clerk, and his wife, Margaret Oliphant 1789–1854, she was born at Wallyford, near Musselburgh, East Lothian, and spent her childhood at Lasswade near Dalkeith, Glasgow and Liverpool she was always writing as a young girl and in 1849 had her first novel published Passages in the Life of Mrs. Margaret Maitland, 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 Margaret published Merkland (1851) in 1853 her novel Katie Stewart was serialized in Blackwood's Magazine

Marriage and Writing

In May 1852, she married her cousin Frank Wilson Oliphant at Birkenhead,^[1] and settled at Harrington Square in London an artist working mainly in stained glass, her husband had been ill for a long time and three of their six children died in infancy, while her husband developed symptoms of consumption, because of her husbands 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 began surporting her children through her writing

Between 1861 and 1878 she wrote a series of novels on English provincial life, including the seven novel series, entitled 'The Chronicles of Carlingford', the series included Salem Chapel (1863), The Rector and The Doctor's Family (1863), The Perpetual Curate (1864), and her best known work, Miss Marjoribanks (1866). The final novel in the series, Phoebe Junior: A Last Chronicle of Carlingford, was published in 1876.

In January 1864 Margaret's only remaining daughter Maggie died in Rome, and was buried in her father's grave, her brother who had emigrated to Canada, was involved in financial ruin, and Mrs. Oliphant offered a home to him and his children.

Later Years

In 1866 she moved to Windsor to be near her sons who were being educated at Eton her second cousin, Annie Louisa Walker, came to live with her as a companion-housekeeper this is where she lived for the rest of her life she wrote for more than thirty years.She died at Wimbledon, London on 25 June 1897.

By the time of her death Margaret Oliphant had produced over 100 novels, almost 30 works of non-fiction and over 100 articles for Blackwood's Magazine. 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

Margaret Oliphant her best known works of fiction are

• Adam Graeme (1852)
• Magdalen Hepburn (1854)
• Lilliesleaf (1855)
• Zaidee - A Romance, (1856)
• The Laird of Norlaw (1858)
• The Chronicles of Carlingford in Blackwood's Magazine (1862–1865), republished as
• Salem Chapel (1863)
• The Rector
• Doctor's Family (1863)
• The Perpetual Curate (1864)
• Miss Marjoribanks (1866)
• Phoebe Junior (1876)
• Madonna Mary (1867)
• Squire Arden (1871)
• He That Will Not When He May (1880)
• Hester (1883)
• Kirsteen (1890)
• The Marriage of Elinor (1892)
• The Ways of Life (1897)
• A Beleaguered City (1880)
• A Little Pilgrim in the Unseen (1882)

Sources

1. ↑ Marriage Registration: "England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915," database with images, Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry uk Record 8913 #31866333 (accessed 17 January 2023), Margaret Oliphant Wilson marriage registered Apr-May-Jun 1852 in Wirral; citing England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England General Register Office, Volume 8a, Page 557.

• "England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2JYW-V1W : 31 December 2014), Margaret O W Oliphant, 1897; from "England & Wales Deaths, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Death, Kingston, Surrey, England, General Register Office, Southport, England.
• "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVVC-VJQ1 : 27 July 2019), Margaret Wilson Oliphant, 1897; Burial, Eton, Windsor and Maidenhead Royal Borough, Berkshire, England, Eton Parish Cemetery; citing record ID 15420906, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
• "England and Wales, National Index of Wills and Administrations, 1858-1957," , FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:7XZF-SMPZ : 27 August 2019), Margaret Oliphant Wilson Oliphant, Sep 1900; citing Probate, London, England, United Kingdom, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, Great Britain.; FHL microfilm .

• Margaret Oliphant Wikipedia