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Dramatis Personae

The ‘Dramatis Personae’ provides biographical and other information about 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 in Olive Schreiner’s letters will also take you straight to this information.

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


A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M|N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z|All

A
NameDescription
icon Abdurahman, AbdullahAbdullah Abdurahman (1872 - 1940) was a South African political leader who championed the rights of ...
icon Adams, GeorgeGeorge Adams was an important figure in the life of Schreiner’s close friend Edward Carpenter....
icon Addams, JaneJane Addams (1860 - 1935) was an American social campaigner, suffragette and peace worker, and in 19...
icon Alexander, MorrisMorris Alexander (1877 - 1946) was a lawyer and Cape parliamentarian. Alexander came from a German-J...
icon Alexander, RuthRuth Alexander nee Schechter (1888 - 1942) was the daughter of a well-known Hebrew scholar, Solomon ...
icon Alexanders (The)Refers to Ruth Alexander nee Schechter and
icon Angell, NormanNorman Angell (1872 - 1967), formerly Ralph Norman Angell Lane, was a British peace campaigner and w...
icon Arnold, MatthewMatthew Arnold (1822 - 1888) was an influential British poet, literary and social critic and inspect...
icon Asquith, Herbert HenryHerbert Asquith (1852 - 1928) was British Prime Minister between 1908 and 1916. A Liberal, Asquith w...
icon Aveling, EdwardEdward Bibbens Aveling (1849 - 1898) was a socialist campaigner and the long-term lover of Karl Marx...
icon Avelings (The)Refers to Eleanor Marx and

B
NameDescription
icon Barnato, BarneyBarnett Isaacs (‘Barney’) Barnato (1852 - 1897) was a key figure in the early developmen...
icon Barrett, WilsonWilliam Henry Barrett (1846 - 1904), known as Wilson Barrett, was a British playwright and actor. He...
icon Basson, PierrePierre Corneille Faculys Basson, “in all probability, South Africa’s first mass murderer...
icon Batthyany, LilyLilly Batthyany was the wife of the Hungarian aristocrat Count Ervin Batthyany, a friend of Edward C...
icon Batthyanys (The)See Lilly Batthyany
icon Battie, MissMiss Battie was a typist who Schreiner approached to type some of her manuscripts. No further inform...
icon Beit, AlfredAlfred Beit (1853-1906) was a mining magnate, close associate of Cecil Rhodes, and played a key role...
icon Benet, IanNo further information about this person is available.
icon Bertram, WillieJohn William Bertram (1845 - 1879) was the son of Rev J.P. Bertram, Gottlob Schreiner’s predec...
icon Besant, AnnieAnnie Besant nee Wood (1847-1933) was a British social activist, theosophist and campaigner. In 1867...
icon Beyers, General Christiaan FrederikChristiaan Frederik Beyers (1869 - 1914) was an important Boer general during the 1899-1902 South Af...
icon Bland, EdithEdith Bland nee Nesbit (1858 - 1924) was a well-known British writer. She married Hubert Bland in 18...
icon Bolus, LilyLily Bolus (1877 - 1970) was a botanist and former teacher at the Port Elizabeth Collegiate School f...
icon Boonzaier, Daniel CornelisDaniel Cornelis Boonzaier (1865 - 1950) was a South African caricaturist and political cartoonist, a...
icon Botha, LouisLouis Botha (1862 - 1919) was a Boer general, South African politician, and then first Prime Ministe...
icon Brackenbury, GeorgianaGeorgiana Brackenbury (1865 - 1949) was an important figure in the British women’s suffrage mo...
icon Brackenbury, Mrs HildaHilda Brackenbury (1832 - 1918) was the mother of Georgiana Brackenbury and an important figure in t...
icon Brackenburys (The)Refers to Georgiana Brackenbury and
icon Broadbent, Sir WilliamSir William Henry Broadbent (1835-1907) was a British physician. He became a renowned expert on both...
icon Brown, ArthurArthur Brown married Schreiner’s niece Effie Hemming in 1903. There are three extant letters f...
icon Brown, JohnDr John Brown (1842 - 1929) was a medical doctor, originally from Scotland, but who with his wife Ma...
icon Brown, JulieJulia Mary Brown was a daughter of Schreiner’s friends John and Mary Brown. She occasionally n...
icon Brown, MaryMary Brown nee Solomon (1847 - 1935) was the third daughter of Henry Solomon and niece of the Cape p...
icon Brown, RachelRachel ‘Ray’ Brown was a daughter of Schreiner’s friends John and Mary Brown. She ...
icon Browns (The)Refers to John Brown and
icon Butler, JosephineJosephine Elizabeth Butler nee Grey (1828-1906) was a British social reformer and campaigner for wom...
icon Butler, General/Sir William FrancesWilliam Francis Butler (1838 - 1910) was a British army officer and author. Of Irish birth he joined...

C
NameDescription
icon Caird, Mona(Alice) Mona Caird nee Alison (1854 - 1932) was a ‘New Woman’ writer who, in addition to...
icon Carpenter, EdwardEdward Carpenter (1844 - 1929), was a writer, socialist philosopher and a pioneering gay, women’s an...
icon Cartwright, AlbertJournalist Albert Cartwright (1868 - 1956) took up the editorship of the South African News i
icon Catt, Carrie ChapmanCarrie Chapman Catt (nee Clinton Lane) (1859 - 1947) was an American suffrage activist. She became c...
icon Cawood, CliffordAnnie Clifford Cawood (1864 - 1949) was the eldest child of Erilda and Richard Cawood on whose farm ...
icon Cawood, DoraDora Cawood was a daughter of Richard and Erilda Cawood, on whose farm Ganna Hoek Schreiner frequent...
icon Cawood, ErildaErilda Louisa Elizabeth Cawood nee Buckley (1842 - 1903) was born near Fort Beaufort and married Ric...
icon Cawood, GladysSarah Gladys Cawood, who was born in 1872 and died in about 1949, was a daughter of Richard and Eril...
icon Cawood, WillieWilliam Kidger Cawood (1866 - 1906), known as Willie, was a son of Richard and Erilda Cawood, on who...
icon Chamberlain, JosephJoseph Chamberlain (1836 - 1914) was a British politician who by the beginning of the twentieth cent...
icon Chapin, AdeleAdele Chapin was the wife of the US Consul at Johannesburg, Robert Chapin, in the period leading up ...
icon Chapman, FredericFrederic Chapman (1823 - 1895) was a British publisher and it was his firm which first published Sch...
icon Chapman and HallSee Frederic Chapman
icon Chubb, PercivalPercival Ashley Chubb (1860 - 1960) was a prominent British Fabian. He was a member of the Progressi...
icon Churchill, WinstonSir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874-1965) was a British politician and twice prime minister....
icon Clark, AliceAlice Clark (1874 - 1934) was a British women's rights campaigner, pioneering historian, and a membe...
icon Clemes, IsabellaIsabella J. Clemes was a Mathematics teacher and a graduate of Newnham College, Cambridge. A member ...
icon Cobb, ElisabethElisabeth Cobb (nee Sharpe), wife of the nonconformist banker, solicitor and Liberal MP, Henry Cobb,...
icon Colenso, FrankFrancis Ernest (Frank) Colenso (1852 - 1910) was a Zulu rights campaigner, son of the famous Bishop ...
icon Colenso, HarrietHarriet (or Harriette) Emily Colenso (1847 - 1932) was the eldest daughter of John William Colenso a...
icon Colenso, SophieSophie Colenso nee Frankland (born 1855) was the daughter of Sir Edward Frankland, Professor of Chem...
icon Conybeare, EmilyEmily Conybeare was a British feminist who visited South Africa in 1891. She was closely associated ...
icon Cornwall, MosesMoses Cornwall (1841-1906) was the electoral returning officer in Kimberley who in 1897 had Cronwrig...
icon Corthorn, AliceAlice Corthorn was a British medical doctor whose studies were in part funded by Olive Schreiner. Sc...
icon Costelloe, Mrs MaryMary Costelloe nee Pearsall Smith was an aunt of Schreiner’s friend Alys Pearsall Smith. She w...
icon Costelloe, RayRachel Pearsall Conn (Ray) Strachey nee Costelloe (1887 - 1940) was a British feminist activist and ...
icon Costelloes (The)See Mary Costelloe
icon Creswell, FrederickFrederic Hugh Page Creswell (1866 - 1948) was born in Gibraltar but went on to become an important S...
icon Cronwright, AlfredAlfred Cronwright (born 1874) was one of Samuel Cronwright’s brothers.
icon Cronwright, BeatriceElla Beatrice Featherstone Cronwright (born 1877) was Samuel ‘Cron’ Cronwright’s s...
icon Cronwright, LouieNo further information about this person is currently available
icon Cronwright, Louisa ZipporahLouisa Zipporah Cronwright (1861 - 1929) was Samuel ‘Cron’ Cronwright’s eldest sis...
icon Cronwright, MorthlandJoseph Morthland Cotterill Cronwright (born 1872) was one of Samuel Cronwright’s brothers. He ...
icon Cronwright, WillieNo further information about this person is currently available
icon Cronwright, ZipporahZipporah Cronwright nee Featherstone (1835 - 1912) was Samuel ‘Cron’ Cronwright’s ...
icon Cronwright-Schreiner, Cron (Samuel)Cron Cronwright (later Cronwright-Schreiner, later still Cronwright again) (1863 - 1936) was Olive S...
icon Cross, G. W.George William Cross (1851 - 1920) travelled to South Africa from Britain in 1877 to take up the min...

D
NameDescription
icon De La Rey, General JacobusJacobus Hercules (Koos) De La Rey (1847 - 1914) was an important Boer general during the 1899-1902 S...
icon De Villiers, Mrs C C (Charles Christiaan)Mrs CC De Villiers (her personal name cannot be established) was the wife of Charles Christiaan de V...
icon De Villiers, MinnieMinnie Edith De Villiers nee Drummond was the wife of South African judge Opie or Oefie De Villiers....
icon De Villiers, OpieSir Jean Etienne Reenen (Oefie or Opie) De Villiers (1875 - 1947) was a well-known South African jud...
icon De Villiers, WinifredFrom Schreiner’s single extant letter to Winifred de Villiers, it is clear that she was involv...
icon De Wet, ChristiaanChristiaan Rudolph De Wet (1854 - 1922) was a key Boer general during the 1899-1902 South African Wa...
icon De Wet, MarieMarie Koopmans De Wet (1834 - 1906) was a well-known figure in Cape cultural and political circles, ...
icon Dick, MollyMolly Dick was a daughter of Rachel (‘Ray’) Dick nee Brown, who was herself the daughter...
icon Dilke, CharlesSir Charles Wentworth Dilke (1843 - 1911) was a British politician and writer. Dilke was educated at...
icon Dilke, Emilia FrancesEmilia Francis Dilke nee Strong (1840 - 1904) was a British art historian, feminist and involved in ...
icon DinuzuluDinuzulu (1868 - 1913) was the eldest son of the last king of an independent Zululand, Cetshwayo. Ce...
icon Dirks, William H.William H. Dirks was a writer and also a colleague of Ernest Rhys’ at Walter Scott publishing ...
icon Donkin, BryanHoratio Bryan Donkin (1842 - 1927) was a British medical doctor who Schreiner came to know through h...
icon Drew, MaryMary Drew nee Gladstone (1847 - 1927), was a political secretary and a writer, and also an active fe...
icon Du Bois, W E BWilliam Edward Burghardt Du Bois (1868 - 1963) was a black American writer and activist. Du Bois was...
icon Dube, JohnJohn Langalibalele Dube (1871 - 1946) was a South African educationalist and Zulu political leader. ...
icon Duncan, PatrickPatrick Duncan (1870 - 1943) was born in Scotland, but after joining the British civil service was r...

E
NameDescription
icon Earle, Mrs(Maria) Theresa Earle nee Villiers (1836 - 1925) was a British horticulturist and the sister of Eliz...
icon Earp, CharleyCharles Earp (1863 - 1935) was the husband of Emma Earp nee Findlay.
icon Earp, EmmaEmma Leonora Earp nee Findlay (1868 - 1954) was a daughter of Katie Schreiner (Schreiner’s old...
icon Earp, ErrolErrol Earp was a son of Emma and Charles Earp. Emma Earp nee Findlay was Schreiner’s niece, an...
icon Eastty, AnnieAnnie Eastty was a member of the Men and Women’s Club, and it was in this context that Schrein...
icon Ehrlich, RoseRose Ehrlich was a daughter of Wolf Ehrlich and his wife Helene Baumann. Rose’s father was of ...
icon Ellis, EdithEdith Mary Oldham Ellis nee Lees (1861-1916) was a British feminist and writer who married Havelock ...
icon Ellis, Havelock(Henry) Havelock Ellis (1859 - 1939) was a British writer and pioneering sexologist. Ellis’s father ...
icon Ellis, LouieLouie Ellis was a sister of Havelock Ellis. Schreiner came to know Louie in the context of her frien...

F
NameDescription
icon Fawcett, Millicent GarrettDame Millicent Garrett Fawcett (1847-1929) was a British social and political activist and a leader ...
icon Fincham, EdnaEdna Fincham married Oliver Schreiner, Will and Fan Schreiner’s son and Olive Schreiner’...
icon Findlay, AlsieAlice Henrietta Elizabeth (Alsie) Findlay was one of the daughters of Schreiner’s sister Katie...
icon Findlay, BessieElizabeth Aletta (Bessie) Findlay nee Niemeyer was the wife of Schreiner’s nephew (John) Hudso...
icon Findlay, ElizaEliza or Ely Findlay was one of the daughters of Schreiner’s sister Katie Findlay and her husb...
icon Findlay, FredFred Findlay was one of the sons of Schreiner’s sister Katie Findlay and her husband John Find...
icon Findlay, GeorgeGeorge Findlay was one of the sons of Schreiner’s sister Katie Findlay and her husband John Fi...
icon Findlay, HudsonJohn Hudson Lamb Findlay (1867 - 1942), always referred to as Hudson, was the son of Schreiner’...
icon Findlay, JohnJohn Findlay, husband of Katie
icon Findlay, JohnJohn Findlay (1839 - 1902) married Schreiner’s eldest sister Katie in 1860. He was the son of ...
icon Findlay, Katie (Catherine)Katie (Catherine) Whitby Schreiner (1838 - 1898) was the eldest of Gottlob and Rebecca Schreiner’s c...
icon Ford, IsabellaIsabella Ormston Ford (1855-1924) was a British social and political activist, close friend of Olive...
icon Forman, Henry BuxtonHenry (Harry) Buxton Forman (1842 - 1917) was a British publisher, bibliographer and forger. Forman ...
icon Fort, Seymour(George) Seymour Fort (1858 - 1951) was born in Britain and educated at Oxford. He worked for a time...
icon Fourie, JoeyJoey Fourie was a sister of Anna Purcell nee Fourie and she married a member of the Smuts family. Fr...
icon Friendlander, EthelEthel Friedlander was the daughter of one of Cronwright-Schreiner’s business clients in De Aar...

G
NameDescription
icon Gandhi, MohandasMohandas Karamchand (later given the title of Mahatma) Gandhi (1869 - 1948), Indian political leader...
icon Gandhis (The)See Mohandas Karamchand Ghandi
icon Garnett, RichardRichard Garnett (1835 - 1906) was a British librarian and writer. In 1851 he became an assistant in ...
icon Gau, JuliusJulius Gau (1845 - 1927) was briefly engaged to Olive Schreiner in 1872. She met Gau at the home of ...
icon George, David LloydDavid Lloyd George (1863-1945) was a British Liberal politician and Prime Minister between 1916 and ...
icon Gie, HarryHarry Gie was a friend of Olive Schreiner’s and a family connection of her sister-in-law Fan S...
icon Gillett, MargaretMargaret Gillett (nee Clark) (1878 - 1962) was member of the prominent Quaker and shoe-manufacturing...
icon Gladstone, HerbertHerbert John Gladstone (1854 - 1930) was the youngest son of William Gladstone and a prominent Briti...
icon Gladstone, William EwartWilliam Ewart Gladstone (1809 - 1898) was a British Liberal politician and four times British Prime ...
icon Glasier, John BruceJohn Bruce Glasier (1859 - 1920) was a British politician highly prominent in the Labour movement. B...
icon Glasier, Katherine BruceKatharine St John Bruce Glasier (nee Conway) (1867-1950) was a British socialist politician. From a ...
icon Goethe, Johann Wolfgang vonJohann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832) was a German writer and polymath, widely regarded as the gr...
icon Gokhale, Gopal KrishnaGopal Krishna Gokhale (1866 - 1915) was an important figure in the Indian independence movement agai...
icon Goosen, MrsFrom Schreiner’s single extant letter to Mrs Goosen of 1909, it is evident that she was involv...
icon Graham, AimyeAimye Ismena Graham (nee Gavin) was the wife of Thomas Graham (1860 - 1940), an advocate and later t...
icon Greathead, MrsFrom Schreiner’s letters to Lucy Molteno written in London during the First World War, it is a...
icon Greene, AliceAlice Matilda Greene (1858 - 1920) was the third child of William and Charlotte Greene (nee Smith). ...
icon Greene, EvaEva Greene nee Stutzer (1883 - 1979) was married to Edward Greene, a younger brother of Olive Schrei...
icon Greene, FlorenceFlorence Greene (1855 - 1939) was the eldest sister of Schreiner’s close friend Alice Greene. ...
icon Greene, HelenHelen Greene (1870 - 1960) was the youngest sister of Schreiner’s close friend Alice Greene. H...
icon Greene, PollyMary Charlotte (Polly) Greene (1860 - 1951) was a younger sister of Schreiner’s close friend A...
icon Gregg, Colonel ThomasTommy Gregg (Lieut.-Colonel W.T.H. Gregg) married Lyndall (‘Dot’) Schreiner, Will and Fa...
icon Grey, Sir GeorgeGeorge Grey (1812 - 1898) was a British colonial governor and statesman. Grey had a military backgro...

H
NameDescription
icon Hadden, MrsMrs Hadden appears to have been a neighbour of Schreiner’s, but whether in Kimberley, Johannes...
icon Haddon, CarolineCaroline Haddon was the sister of Margaret Haddon, who married James Hinton. Caroline Haddon ran a g...
icon Haggard, H RiderSir (Henry) Rider Haggard (1856 - 1925) was a British novelist and is often now most closely associa...
icon Haldane Murrays (The)Refers to Minnie Murray and
icon Hall, H FieldingHarold Fielding Hall was the author of The Soul of a People (1898), a book which had a profou
icon Hardie, Keir(James) Keir Hardie (1856 - 1915) was the founder of the British Labour Party and also of the newspa...
icon Harkness, MargaretMargaret (‘Maggie’) Elise Harkness (1854 - 1923) was a British writer and journalist, an...
icon Harris, FrankJames Thomas (Frank) Harris (1856 - 1931) was a British journalist and from 1886 he edited the influ...
icon Harte, BretBret Harte (1836 - 1902) was an American novelist. Schreiner makes repeated reference in her letters...
icon Hay, WilliamWilliam Hay (1845 - 1932) with his brother George was founder of the Cape Mercury, a n
icon Hemming, AliceAlice Elizabeth Hemming nee Schreiner (1845 - 1884) was Olive Schreiner’s second eldest sister...
icon Hemming, EffieEthelwyn (‘Effie’) Brown nee Hemming was one of the daughters of Alice Hemming nee Schre...
icon Hemming, ElbertElbert Hemming was one of the children of Schreiner’s sister Alice Hemming and her husband Rob...
icon Hemming, GuyGuy Hemming was one of the children of Schreiner’s sister Alice Hemming and her husband Robert...
icon Hemming, RobertRobert Campbell Hemming, son a prominent Cape Town civil servant, married Olive Schreiner’s si...
icon Hemming, WynnieWinifred or Wynnie Hemming was a daughter of Alice Hemming nee Schreiner and her husband Robert, and...
icon Henderson, JamesJames Henderson (1867 - 1930) was a Presbyterian missionary in South Africa and the third principal ...
icon Hertzog, BarryJames Barry Munnik Hertzog (1866 - 1942) was a Boer general and South African politician. He studied...
icon Hinton, DaisyDaisy Hinton was the younger of Margaret and James Hinton’s two daughters. She appears to have...
icon Hinton, HowardHoward Hinton was the son of James Hinton. He seems to have shared some of his father’s sexual...
icon Hinton, JamesJames Hinton (1822 - 1875) was a British aural surgeon and writer on political, social, sexual and r...
icon Hinton, MargaretMargaret Haddon (born 1825/6) was the daughter of John Haddon, a printer. She married James Hinton i...
icon Hobhouse, EmilyEmily Hobhouse (1860 - 1926) was a British social reformer and charity worker. Hobhouse’s moth...
icon Hobson, John AtkinsonJohn Atkinson Hobson (1858 - 1940) was a British economist, sociologist and social theorist who wrot...
icon Hodgson, JoanJoan Wickham married Schreiner’s friend John Hodgson in August 1918. Her brief ‘reminisc...
icon Hodgson, John LawrenceJohn Hodgson was an engineer and would be literary figure who became a friend of Olive Schreiner?s d...
icon Hofmeyr, Jan HendrickJan Hendrik (‘Onze Jan’) Hofmeyr (1845 - 1909) was a prominent Cape politician and newspaper editor....
icon Holub, EmilEmil Holub (1847 - 1902) was a doctor and explorer, and of Czech birth. After studying medicine he w...
icon Hope, HamiltonHamilton Hope was the husband of Schreiner’s cousin Emmie Hope nee Rolland. Olive Schreiner st...
icon Hopkins, ElliceEllice Hopkins (1836 - 1904) was a British social activist who campaigned against sexual double stan...
icon Hunt, AlbertAlbert Hunt was an employee of the Castle Mail Packets Company owned by Donald Currie. SchreinerR...
icon Hyett, IdaIda Hyett was Edward Carpenter's niece, the daughter of his sister Ellen and her husband Francis Ada...

I
NameDescription
icon Innes, Dorothy Rose Dorothy Rose Innes (1884 - 1942) was the only child of Schreiner's friend Jessie (formerly Dods Prin...
icon Innes, James RoseJames Rose Innes (1855 - 1942) was a South African judge, politician and cabinet minister. Rose Inne...
icon Innes, Jessie RoseJessie (or Jesse) Rose Innes nee Dods Pringle (1860 - 1943) was the wife of Sir James Rose Innes and...
icon Inneses (The)Refers to James Rose Innes and
icon Iron, RalphRalph Iron was the pseudonym under which Schreiner first published The Story of An African Far

J
NameDescription
icon Jabavu, TengoJohn Tengo Jabavu (1859 - 1921) was a prominent black leader and newspaper editor in South Africa. H...
icon Jacobs, AlettaAletta Henriette Jacobs (1854 - 1929) was a Dutch feminist and suffragette. She was the first woman ...
icon Jaffe, LadyLady Jaffe nee Paula Hertz was the wife of German-born British Jewish businessman Sir Otto Jaffe. Si...
icon Jagger, John WilliamJohn William Jagger (1859 - 1930) was a businessman and politician. Born in Britain, he migrated to ...
icon Jameson, Leander StarrDr (later Sir) Leander Starr Jameson (1853-1917) was born in Edinburgh, and after training as a medi...
icon Jones, AgnesAgnes Jones was a member of the 1880s London circles in which Schreiner moved. Jones had been “...

K
NameDescription
icon Kallenbach, HermannHermann Kallenbach (1871 - 1945) was a Jewish German-born South African architect and close friend a...
icon Kent, PhilipPhilip Kent wrote one of the first reviews of Schreiner’s The Story of an African Farm in Feb
icon Kipling, Rudyard(Joseph) Rudyard Kipling (1865 - 1936) was a British writer, famous in particular for his poems and ...
icon Kiplings (The)See Rudyard Kipling
icon Kitchener, HoratioHoratio Herbert Kitchener (1850 - 1916) was a British army officer who gained fame for his role in c...
icon Kriel, MrsMrs Kriel ran a boarding house at Beaufort West where Schreiner stayed for a time in 1900 during the...
icon Kruger, Paul Stephanus JohannesStephanus Johannes Paulus (Paul) Kruger (1825 - 1904) was the last president of the independent Tran...

L
NameDescription
icon L'Overture, ToussaintFrançois-Dominique Toussaint L’ouverture (1743 - 1803) was the leader of the Haitian Revolution whic...
icon Lankester, E. RaySir (Edwin) Ray Lankester (1847-1929) was a British zoologist who also took an interest in social ma...
icon Lawrence, Emmeline PethickEmmeline Pethick Lawrence (1867-1954) was a prominent British suffragette and married to Frederick P...
icon Lawrence, Frederick PethickFrederick William (Fred) Pethick-Lawrence (1871 - 1961) was a British Labour politician and leading ...
icon Lee, VernonViolet Paget (Vernon Lee) (1856 - 1935) was a professional writer and art historian. Lee was predomi...
icon Levy, AmyAmy Levy (1862 - 89), poet and novelist, was a member of the ‘New Woman’ circle in 1880s London. She...
icon Lewis, F. S.F.S. Lewis was the librarian of the Cape Town public library, the present National Library of South ...
icon Lewis, PlumPlum (Percy) Lewis was a young South African man Schreiner knew in London during the First World War...
icon Liebnecht, KarlKarl Liebnecht (1871 - 1919) was a German socialist and co-founder of the German Communist Party. Li...
icon Little, Brown & CoLittle, Brown and Company is the US publishing firm established in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and...
icon Lloyd, E. BertramE. Bertram Lloyd was a friend of Edward Carpenter’s and also of Henry and Kate salt, as well a...
icon Lloyd, John T.John T. Lloyd was a church minister in South Africa. He was ordained in London in 1876 and worked as...
icon Lloyds (The)See John T. Lloyd
icon Loch, ElizabethElizabeth Loch nee Villiers was the wife of Sir Henry Loch, High Commissioner for South Africa and G...
icon Loch, Sir HenryHenry Broughham Loch (1827 - 1900) was a British colonial governor of military background. He marrie...
icon Lochs (The)Refers to Elizabeth Loch and
icon Logan, James DouglasJohn Douglas Logan (1857 - 1920) was a businessman and long-term proprietor of the hotel at Matjesfo...
icon Logans (The)See John Douglas Logan
icon Lord, Frances(Henrietta) Frances Lord (1848 - 1923) was a British translator and feminist. She rose to particular...
icon Low, LadyLady Low’s biographical details have not been traced but from references to her in Schreiner&#...
icon Lytton, ConstanceLady Constance Lytton (1869 - 1923) was the daughter of Edward Robert Bulwer-Lytton, first Earl of L...
icon Lytton, EdithEdith Bulwer-Lytton nee Villiers (1841 - 1936) was a daughter of Edward Ernest Villiers, the younger...

M
NameDescription
icon MacDonald, GeorgeGeorge MacDonald (1824 - 1905) was a Scottish writer and poet and also a Christian minister. In a le...
icon Macfayden, IreneIrene Macfadyen was a member of the Cape Women’s Enfranchisement League (WEL) and for a time s...
icon Mackenzie, JohnJohn MacKenzie (1835 - 1899) was a London Mission Society missionary in South Africa and also an adv...
icon Malan, CommandantWynand Charl Malan (1872 - 1953) was a Boer soldier and farmer. He made a name for himself during th...
icon Malan, Francois StephanusFrancois Stephanus (F.S.) Malan (1871 - 1941) was a South African newspaper editor, politician and c...
icon Marriot, AileenAileen Marriott was the wife of Edward Marriott. Schreiner met the couple when she was staying at Ma...
icon Marriot, Major EdwardEdward Frere Marriott (1854 - 1903) was a member of the Indian Staff Corps and worked in the Militar...
icon Marriots (The)Refers to Aileen Marriott and
icon Marshall, CatherineCatherine Elizabeth Marshall (1880 - 1960) was a prominent British feminist and internationalist, an...
icon Martin, MrReverend G.A. Martin (in some letters he is referred to as Martain) had formerly been a member of th...
icon Marx, EleanorEleanor Marx (1855 - 1898), the youngest daughter of Karl Marx, became a close friend of Olive Schre...
icon Masabalala, SamuelSamuel Masabalala - referred to as Masabela by Schreiner - was a black political and labour leader ...
icon Mattison, AlfredAlfred Mattison, usually referred to as Alf or Mat by Schreiner and other friends, was a prominent f...
icon McNaughton, MargaretMargaret McNaughton was someone Schreiner met while she was living in Colesburg in 1874 working as g...
icon Merriman, AgnesAgnes Merriman nee Vintcent (1854 - 1923) was the wife of John X. Merriman and the daughter of Josep...
icon Merriman, John X.John Xavier Merriman (1841-1926) was a prominent South African politician and the last Prime Ministe...
icon Mill, John StuartJohn Stuart Mill (1806 - 1873) was a British writer and philosopher whose work had a powerful and la...
icon Milner, AlfredAlfred Milner (1854 - 1925) was Governor of the Cape Colony and High Commissioner for South Africa f...
icon Moffat, JohnJohn Moffat (1835 - 1918) was a London Missionary Society missionary variously stationed in Bechuana...
icon Molteno, BettyElizabeth (Betty) Molteno (1852 - 1927) was one of Olive Schreiner’s closest and most loved fr...
icon Molteno, CharlesJohn Charles Molteno was a brother of Betty Molteno and Caroline Murray nee Molteno. He was the husb...
icon Molteno, LucyLucy Molteno was the wife of John Charles Molteno, a brother of Betty Molteno and Caroline Murray ne...
icon Molteno, MargaretMargaret Molteno was a daughter of Percy Molteno and lived in Britain; she married her cousin George...
icon Molteno, PercyPercy Alport Molteno (1861 - 1937) was a brother of Schreiner’s close friends Betty Molteno an...
icon Molteno, Charles Charles Molteno was the husband of Olive Schreiner's younger friend Lucy Molteno, and a brother of B...
icon Montefiore, DoraDorothy (Dora) Frances Montefiore (nee Fuller) (1851 - 1933) was a British socialist and feminist ac...
icon Moore, GeorgeGeorge Augustus Moore (1852 - 1933) was an Irish writer and novelist. Schreiner’s letters duri...
icon Muirhead, LeneLene or Lena Muirhead was the wife of Schreiner’s friend Bob Muirhead. In her letters to Muirh...
icon Muirhead, Robert FranklinRobert Muirhead was a mathematics teacher who also worked for the Glasgow Socialist League and Edwar...
icon Müller, Henrietta(Frances) Henrietta Müller (1851 - 1906) was a member of the Men and Women’s Club and a friend...
icon Murray, A. Haldane(Andrew) Haldane Murray (1866 - 1916) was married to Schreiner's friend Mimmie Murray. He was a son ...
icon Murray, AndreAndre Murray was a daughter of Schreiner’s friends A. Haldane and Mimmie or Minnie Murray who ...
icon Murray, BobbieBobbie Murray was a son of Schreiner’s friends A. Haldane and Mimmie Murray who lived on the f...
icon Murray, CarolineCaroline Murray nee Molteno (1853 - 1937) was a daughter of Sir John Molteno, who had been the first...
icon Murray, CharlesDr Charles Frederick Kennan Murray (1847 - 1930) was married to Schreiner’s friend Caroline Murray a...
icon Murray, GeorgeGeorge Murray (1893 - 1918) was a son of Schreiner’s friend Caroline Murray and her husband Ch...
icon Murray, KathleenKathleen Murray (1891 - 1984) was a daughter of Schreiner’s friend Caroline Murray and her hus...
icon Murray, LennoxLennox Murray was a son of Schreiner’s friend Caroline Murray and her husband Charles. When Le...
icon Murray, Mimmie or MinnieMimmie or Minnie Murray nee Parkes (1865-1929) was a friend of Schreiner's who lived and worked on t...
icon Mushet(t), MrJames Wellwood Mushet (1881 - 1954) was a businessman and Cape parliamentarian. He grew up in Scotla...

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NameDescription
icon Naude, HugoPieter (Peter) Hugo Naude (1869 - 1941) was a South African artist whose studies Schreiner helped to...
icon Noel, RodenRoden Berkeley Wriothesley Noel (1834 - 1894) was a British writer and poet. He had intended to ente...
icon Norman, HenrySir Henry Wylie Norman (1858-1939) was a British journalist and politician. Norman came from a Unita...

O
NameDescription
icon Orpen, JosephJoseph Millerd Orpen (1828 - 1923) was the husband of Schreiner's cousin Lily Orpen, Elise Pauline (...
icon Orpen, LilyElise-Pauline (Lilly, Lily) Orpen nee Rolland (1839 - 1915) was Olive Schreiner’s cousin and the dau...
icon Orpen, MaddyMadeleine (Maddie or Maddy) Orpen was the daughter of Schreiner’s cousin Lily Orpen and her hu...

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

R
NameDescription
icon Radford, DollyCaroline (known as Dollie or Dolly) Maitland (1858 - 1920) was a British writer and poet. In 1883 sh...
icon Reitz, BessieBessie Reitz was the daughter of Frank Reitz and thus a niece of Fan Schreiner’s, and she late...
icon Reitz, Frank (Francis) WilliamFrancis William Reitz (1844 - 1934) was a South African politician and for a time President of the O...
icon Rhodes, Cecil JohnCecil John Rhodes (1853 - 1902) was a mining magnate, Cape politician and arch-imperialist in southe...
icon Rhys, ErnestErnest Percival Rhys (1859 - 1946) was an English writer and editor, now best known for his role as ...
icon Rhys Davids, Caroline Augusta FoleyCaroline Rhy Davids nee Foley (1857 - 1942) was a British Pali scholar and translator, the daughter ...
icon Rhys Davids, ThomasThomas William Rhys Davids (1843 - 1922) was an Orientalist scholar who had studied Greek and Sanskr...
icon Riley, FredFred Riley was the artist husband of Schreiner’s friend Nelly Riley nee Pruse, also an artist....
icon Ritchie, Professor and Mrs D GDavid George Ritchie (1853 - 1903) and his second wife Ellen Sara Haycraft, who he married in 1889, ...
icon Roberts, Mary KingMary Roberts nee King was a friend of Schreiner’s who married Cambridge academic Dr Robert Dav...
icon Roberts, Dr Robert DaviesRobert Davies Roberts (1851 - 1911) was a geologist, Cambridge academic and pioneer in the Universit...
icon Roberts BrothersRoberts Brothers (1857-1898) was a bookbinding and publishing firm based in Boston, USA. Roberts Bro...
icon Robinson, Reverend ZadokSchreiner stayed at the home of the Rev. Zadok Robinson and his wife Susanna in the small South Afri...
icon Rolland, ElizabethElizabeth Rolland (nee Lyndall) was the half-sister of Rebecca Schreiner. She had travelled to the C...
icon Rolland, EmileEmile Rolland, Schreiner’s cousin and a son of Elizabeth and Samuel Rolland, was married to Ma...
icon Rolland, EmmaEmmie Rolland, Schreiner’s cousin and a daughter of Elizabeth and Samuel Rolland, was married ...
icon Rolland, MaggieMaggie Rolland was the wife of Schreiner’s cousin Emile Rolland. Schoeman speculates that Lill...
icon Roos, TielmanTielman Johannes De Villiers Roos (1879 - 1935) was a South African politician, advocate and eventua...
icon Rosenberg, IssacIsaac Rosenberg (1890 - 1918) was a working class British artist and poet. He grew up mainly in the ...
icon Rubusana, WalterWalter Benson Rubusana (1858 - 1936) was a South African church minister and political leader. He wa...
icon Russell, BertrandBertrand Arthur William Russell (1872 - 1970) was a British philosopher, journalist, social commenta...

S
NameDescription
icon S, EduardNo further information about this person is currently available
icon Salt, KateKate Salt nee Joynes and Henry Salt, an erstwhile teacher at Eton, were friends of Edward Carpenter ...
icon Sauer, Johannes WilhemusJohannes Sauer (1850 - 1913) was a Cape politician and Union cabinet minister and husband of Schrein...
icon Sauer, MaryMary Sauer nee Cloete (1863 - 1937) was a close friend of Olive Schreiner’s and wife of the Ca...
icon Sauer, Paul OliverPaul Sauer was the son of Schreiner’s close friend Mary Sauer and her husband Johannes. He lat...
icon Sauerlander, EllenEllen Sauerlander was for a time the manager of the Grand Hotel at Muizenberg near Cape Town, owned ...
icon Sauers (The)Refers to Johannes Sauer and
icon Schreiner, BillWilliam Francis Reitz (Bill) Schreiner (born 1886) was the elder of Will and Fan Schreiner’s two son...
icon Schreiner, EllieHelen (Ellie) Schreiner (1864-1865) was the twelfth and last child of Gottlob and Rebecca Schreiner....
icon Schreiner, EmmaEmma Schreiner nee Chapman was married to Schreiner’s eldest brother Fred. Together they had a...
icon Schreiner, FanFan (Frances Hester) Schreiner (nee Reitz) (1852 - 1931) was Will Schreiner's wife and Olive Schrein...
icon Schreiner, FredFrederick Samuel (Fred) Schreiner (1840 - 1901) was Olive Schreiner’s eldest brother. He was educate...
icon Schreiner, GottlobGottlob Schreiner (1814-1876) was born in fairly humble circumstances in Germany; he received theolo...
icon Schreiner, LyndallFrances Lyndall (‘Dot’) Schreiner (born between 1887 and 1889) was the eldest daughter o...
icon Schreiner, OliverOliver Deneys Schreiner (1890 - 1980) was the younger son of Will and Fan Schreiner. Like his father...
icon Schreiner, RebeccaRebecca Lyndall (18hh-1903), from Hoxton in London, came from an evangelical Non-Conformist (origina...
icon Schreiner, TheophilusTheophilus Lyndall (Theo) Schreiner (1844 - 1920) was an elder brother of Olive Schreiner's, a teach...
icon Schreiner, UrsulaUrsula Hester Schreiner (born 1892) was the younger of the two daughters of Will and Fan Schreiner. ...
icon Schreiner, WilfredWilfred Schreiner was the son of Fred Schreiner and his wife Emma. Olive Schreiner spent some consid...
icon Schreiner, William PhilipWilliam Philip Schreiner (1857 - 1919) was a Cape politician and Olive Schreiner's younger brother. ...
icon Scott, Dr PercyVariously referred to in Schreiner’s letters as Ralph, Sidney and Percy, he married Ursula Sch...
icon Settle, GeneralNo further information about this person is currently available
icon Sharpe, MariaMaria Sharpe (1853-1928) was the younger sister of Elisabeth Cobb, and she too was a member of the M...
icon Shaw, George BernardA polymath, George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950) was a major playwright, critic and polemicist. Irish b...
icon Shippard, EllaElla Shippard was a daughter of the British colonial administrator and ally of Rhodes, Sir Sidney Sh...
icon Shippards (The)See Ella Shippard
icon Silke, HannieHannie Silke may have been a sister of Fan Schreiner (nee Reitz), who married one of the Silkes, wit...
icon Silke, KeetjeKeetje Silke was a cousin at remove of Fan Schreiner (nee Reitz); however, she was a member of the S...
icon Simon, Sir JohnSir John Simon (1873 - 1954) was a British lawyer and politician. In 1913, he was Attorney-General a...
icon Sivewright, JamesJames Sivewright (1848 - 1916) was a prominent South African politician and statesman of Scottish bi...
icon Smith, Adela VilliersAdela Constance Smith nee Villiers (born 1872) was the daughter of Colonel Ernest Villiers and Adela...
icon Smith, Alys PearsallAlys Whitall Pearsall Smith (1867 - 1951) was born in Philadelphia, USA. Her parents were Rob
icon Smuts, IsieSybella Margaretha (‘Isie’) Smuts (nee Krige) (1870 - 1954) was the wife of Jan Smuts an...
icon Smuts, JanJan Christiaan Smuts (1870 - 1950) is one of the most prominent figures in South African history. In...
icon Smuts (The)Refers to Sybella Margaretha ('Isie') Smuts and
icon Soga, A KAllan Kirkland (A.K.) Soga was the son of the famous Tiyo Soga (1829 - 1871), a Xhosa missionary and...
icon Solly, JuliaJulia Solly nee Muspratt (1862 - 1953) was a feminist and temperance worker. Born in England, she wa...
icon Solomon, DaisyDaisy Dorothea Solomon was the daughter of Georgiana and Saul Solomon. She became keenly involved in...
icon Solomon, GeorgianaGeorgiana Margaret Solomon (nee Thomson) (1844 - 1933) was the wife and then widow of the prominent ...
icon Solomon, RichardRichard Prince Solomon (1850 - 1913) was a South African barrister and politician. He was a nephew o...
icon Solomon, SaulSaul Solomon (1817 - 1892) was a printer, newspaper proprietor and Cape parliamentarian. He was born...
icon Sormus, EduardEduard Sormus (1878 - 1940) was an Estonian-Russian violinist. After taking part in the 1905 Russian...
icon Spencer, HerbertHerbert Spencer (1820-1903) was a British sociologist, writer and social theorist whose work had a p...
icon Spiller, GustavGustav Spiller (1864 - 1940) was the Secretary of First Universal Races Congress. Schreiner received...
icon Sprigg, Sir GordonSir (John) Gordon Sprigg (1830-1913) was a British colonial administrator and politician. He travell...
icon Stakesby Lewis, HenriettaHenrietta Rebecca (Ettie or Het) Stakesby Lewis (nee Schreiner) (1850 - 1912) was Olive Schreiner’s ...
icon Stakesby Lewis, JohnJohn Stakesby Lewis (died 1898) married Schreiners sister Ettie in October 1891 in London, although ...
icon Stead, William ThomasWilliam Thomas (W.T.) Stead (1849-1912) was a prominent British journalist, high profile newspaper e...
icon Steinmann, W.Schreiner sent a cheque for two bottles of claret along with a brief note to W. Steinmann in January...
icon Stephen, LeslieLeslie Stephen (1832 - 1904) was a British writer, literary critic and pioneering editor of the D
icon Steyn, GladysGladys Steyn was a daughter of Marthinus Theunis Steyn and his wife ‘Tibbie’. She was th...
icon Steyn, MarthinusMarthinus Theunis Steyn (1857 - 1916) was an advocate, judge and last president of the independent O...
icon Stuart, KatieKatie Harriet Rebecca Stuart nee Findlay (born 1862) was the eldest daughter of Schreiner’s sister C...
icon Stuart, WillWill Stuart was the son of Schreiner’s niece Katie Stuart. Will Schreiner later gave him finan...
icon Sutton, KittyKittie Sutton nee Reitz was a sister of Frances (Fan) Schreiner.
icon Swanwick, HelenaHelena Swanwick nee Sickert (1864 - 1929) was German by birth from a family which settled in Britain...
icon Symons, ArthurArthur William Symons (1865-1945) was a British writer and literary scholar. At the age of seventeen...

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NameDescription
icon Taylor, HelenHelen Taylor (1831 - 1907) was a British political activist who promoted socialism and women’s...
icon Theal, George McCallGeorge McCall Theal (1837 - 1919) was born in the United States but settled in South Africa as a you...
icon Thema, Richard Victor SelopeRichard Victor Selope Thema (1886 - 1955) was a South African political activist and leader. He was ...
icon Theron, DanieDaniel Johannes Stephanus (Danie) Theron (1872 - 1900) became a prominent figure during the 1899-190...
icon Thicknesse, RalphRalph Thicknesse was a member of the Men and Women’s Club and a friend of Karl Pearson’s...
icon Thompson, MissNo information has been traced about Miss Thompson.  There is one extant postcard to Miss Thompson f...
icon Thompson, Cyril NewtonCyril Newton Thompson (‘Turnips’) (1891 - 1958) was a South African friend of Schreiner&...
icon Thompson, Joyce NewtonJoyce Newton Thompson (nee Nettelfold) (1893 - 1978) was born in London, and as Joyce Nettelfold bec...
icon Tooley, Sarah AnnSarah Ann Tooley was a journalist and biographer who approached Schreiner for an interview in 1897 w...

U
NameDescription
icon Unwin, Jane Fisher(Emma) Jane Catherine Cobden (1851 - 1947) was a daughter of Richard Cobden, the Manchester manufact...
icon Unwin, T FisherThomas Fisher Unwin (1848 - 1935) became Schreiner’s main British publisher. Unwin started his...

V
NameDescription
icon Van Heerden, NelPetronella van Heerden (1887-1975) was the first Afrikaner woman to qualify as a medical doctor. Dur...

W
NameDescription
icon Walters, Mrs E MMrs E.M. Walters, sometimes referred to in Schreiner’s letters as Minnie, was a close friend o...
icon Weakley, MrsMary Weakley and her husband George Robert Weakley lived in Colesberg and employed Olive Schreiner a...
icon Weakley, MrGeorge Robert Weakley and his wife Mary Weakley lived in Colesberg and employed Olive Schreiner as g...
icon Weaklys (The)Refers to George Robert Weakley and
icon Webb, Beatrice(Martha) Beatrice Webb nee Potter (1858 - 1943) was a pioneering British social and economic reforme...
icon Webbs (The)See Beatrice Webb
icon Weldon, MaudHoward Hinton married and had two children with Maud Weldon, when he was already married to Mary Ell...
icon Whitby, CharlesDr Charles Whitby was a second cousin of Olive Schreiner’s. From Schreiner’s mentions of...
icon White, MaudMaud White nee Cameron was a mutual friend of Olive Schreiner and Mary Sauer.
icon Wilde, OscarOscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde (1854 - 1900) was a famous Irish playwright, poet and writer. H...
icon Willard, FrancesFrances Elizabeth Willard (1839 - 1898) was a prominent American-born suffragist and social activist...
icon Wilson, DrDr Wilson (personal name unknown) was Schreiner’s doctor while she lived in Hanover during the...
icon Wilson, MrsMrs Wilson (personal name unknown) was the wife of Dr Wilson, Schreiner’s doctor in Hanover. F...
icon Wilson, CharlotteCharlotte Mary Wilson (nee Martin) (1854 - 1944) was a feminist and anarchist friend of Schreiner...