author
William Henry Oliphant Smeaton
1856–1914
A versatile Scottish man of letters, he wrote everything from adventure tales for young readers to lively books on history, literature, and Edinburgh’s past. His work helped bring Australian life, Scottish culture, and major literary figures to a broad popular audience.
2 Audiobooks
Tobias Smollett
by William Henry Oliphant Smeaton
Allan Ramsay
by William Henry Oliphant Smeaton
About the author
Born in Aberdeen on October 24, 1856, William Henry Oliphant Smeaton was a Scottish writer, journalist, editor, historian, and educator who often published as Oliphant Smeaton. He became known for writing about Australian life and literature for British readers, while also producing adventure and children's fiction during the 1890s.
Later in his career, he turned more strongly toward biography, literary history, and Scottish subjects. He wrote books on figures such as Tobias Smollett and Allan Ramsay, contributed to the well-known Famous Scots Series, and also published works on Scottish antiquities and Edinburgh. His The Life and Works of William Shakespeare (1911) was especially successful and went through several reprints.
Smeaton died in Edinburgh on March 31, 1914. Even now, his range stands out: he moved comfortably between journalism, popular history, literary scholarship, and fiction, leaving behind a body of work that reflects both curiosity and a gift for writing for general readers.