Dramatis Personae

The ‘dramatis personae’ provides biographical and other relevant information regarding all the people to whom Olive Schreiner wrote letters, and also concerning a large number of the people her letters mention as well. Where appropriate and possible, references to the South African and the Oxford dictionaries of national biography and also other relevant publications have been provided.

Just click on the letters of the alphabet below to see the information. In addition, clicking on the live links on people’s names when you search and read Olive Schreiner’s letters will also take you straight to this information

Click the letters to access the Dramatis Personae information

Key:  signifies the person is a recipient (and mentioned) |  signifies the person is only mentioned

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P

Name	Description
Pankhurst, Christabel	Christabel Harriette Pankhurst (1880 - 1958) was with Sylvia and Adela one of the daughters of Richa...
Pankhurst, Emmeline	Emmeline Pankhurst (nee Goulden) (1858 - 1928) was a prominent British suffragette leader. Married t...
Pankhurst, Sylvia	(Estelle) Sylvia Pankhurst (1882 - 1960) was with Christabel and Adela one of the daughters of Richa...
Parker, Freddie	Dr Frederick Parker (1877 - 1922) was the husband of May Murray Parker, daughter of Schreiner’s frie...
Parker, May Murray	May Murray (1881 - 1972) was a daughter of Caroline and Charles Murray. She married a British medica...
Parker, Robert	Robert John Parker (1857-1918) was President of the Men and Women’s Club established by his fr...
Parkers (The)	Refers to May Murray and
Pearsall Smiths (The)	See Alys Whitall Pearsall Smith
Pearson, Karl	Karl Pearson (1857 - 1936) was a British mathematician and one of the founders of modern statistics,...
Pethick-Lawrences (The)	Refers to Emmeline Pethick Lawrence and
Philpot, Isaline	Isaline Philpot was the wife of Dr J.H. Philpot. Schreiner came to know the couple while she was liv...
Philpot, Dr J Henry	Dr J.H. Philpot was a prominent London physician and married to Isaline Philpot. Schreiner came to k...
Plaatje, Solomon	Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje (1875 - 1932) was a South African author, translator, journalist and polit...
Podmore, Frank	Frank Podmore (1856 - 1910) was a British writer and founding member of the Fabian Society. Podmore ...
Powrie, Catherine	Catherine Powrie (nee Rolland), and otherwise known as ‘Tattie’, was Schreiner’s c...
Pruse, Nelly	Nelly Pruse (later Riley when she married fellow artist Fred Riley) was an artist friend of Schreine...
Purcell, Anna	Anna Purcell (nee Cambier Faure) was a close South African friend of Olive Schreiner’s. She ma...
Purcell, Fred	Dr William Frederick Purcell (1866 - 1919) was married to Schreiner’s close friend Anna Purcel...
Purcell, Margaretha	Margaretha Purcell was the daughter of Fred and Anna Purcell. She later married R. D. Palmer.
Purcells (The)	Refers to Anna Purcell and
Pursglove, John	John Pursglove was an Englishman who had been employed on a farm in the Cradock district from the la...