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At the Circulating Library

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

Author: Amy M. Smith

Author: Amy M. Smith (1852–1932)

Alternate Name(s): Ramsay Mclellen Oliphant (maiden name); Amy Dunsmuir (pseudonym)

Biography: Ramsay "Amy" McLellen Smith was born on 14 July 1852 in Edinburgh, the eldest daughter of educator Thomas Oliphant and his wife Ann Hay Christison. In 1871, she married the cotton broker James Smith. The couple moved to Cheshire and had several children. In the 1880s, Smith wrote two novels, Vida (1880) and Claire (1889), under the pseudonym "Amy Dunsmuir." In addition, she wrote a collection of poems. After the death of her husband in 1909, she retire to their estate Craigielands in Beattock, Dumfriesshire. On 15 January 1932, Smith died at home.

Author Tags:

References: British Census (1901); Frank Miller, The Poets of Dumfriesshire (James Maclehose, 1910); Probate; Scotsman (24 February 1932)

Fiction Titles:

  1. Vida: A Study of a Girl.  2 vol.  London: Macmillan, 1880.
  2. Claire.  1 vol.  Glasgow: J. Maclehose, 1889.