Cynthia Stockley

Biography

Cynthia Stockley was born in Bloemfontein, Orange Free State. Her mother, Mary Ann Webb (Corbett), emigrated from Country Clare - Ireland to South Africa in 1859, whilst her father, Abel Webb arrived in South Africa from Northamptonshire as a carpenter. At the age of two, Cynthia's mother passed away. Subsequently, her father remarried and grew up with four siblings, her stepmother, step-sister, and two half-brothers. After attending Micheal's School, Bloemfontein, in 1896 Cynthia Stockley relocated to the then-British colony of Rhodesia. There she married Rhodesian police officer Phillip George Watts Stockley and later Colonel H. E. Pelham-Browne, one of the earliest European settlers of Rhodesia. Sometime around the turn of the twentieth century, Stockley returned to England and began working as a newspaper writer. Her first book, "Virginia of Rhodesians" (1904), was a collection of short stories that achieved international success. Later "Poppy, The Story of a South African Girl" (1910), received a great deal of attention for its frankness about marriage, morality, sex, and depression. A list of some of her later books include: "The Claw: Stories of South Africa" (1911), "The Dream Ship" (1913), "Wild Honey: Stories of South Africa" (1914), "Blue Aloes: Stories of South Africa" (1918), "Pink Gods and Blue Demons" (1920), "The Sins of Rosanne" (1920), "Ponjola" (1923), "Dalla The Lion-Cub: Stories of South Africa." (1924), "The Garden of Peril: A Story of the African Veld" (1924), "Perilous Woman: A Story of the African Veld" (1924), "Three Farms: A Story of South Africa" (1925), "The Dice of God: Stories of South Africa" (1926), "Leopard in the Bush: A Sequel to "Dalla the Lion-Cub" (1926), "Tagati (Magic)" (1930), "Kraal Baby: A Novel" (1934) and "Perilous Stuff: Three Short Novels" (1936). Cynthia Stockley ended her life on 15 January 1936 by inhaling coal gas in her London home. Her fading popularity and reduced financial circumstances may have played a factor in her death. Some believe that had her stories not revolved so much around colonial life in Africa that she might be better remembered today.