Cynthia Stockley

Born Lilian Julian Webb in Bloemfontein on July 7, 1873, Cynthia Stockley later adopted the name by which she became known as a writer. She was educated at St. Michael's School in Bloemfontein and then lived in Mashonaland, experiences that would strongly influence her fiction.

Stockley worked as a journalist, actress, and novelist. Her first novel, Virginia of the Rhodesians (1903), helped establish the style she became known for: popular romances and adventure stories set in southern Africa. Among her best-known books is Poppy: The Story of a South African Girl, and her novels often tie emotional drama closely to the landscapes of Rhodesia and South Africa.

She died in Kensington, England, on January 15, 1936. Although some catalog records list her as 1883–1936, the biographical sources found here give her birth date as July 7, 1873, so that is the date reflected in this overview.