Author: Mary Allan Olney
Author: Mary Allan Olney (born 1837)
Alternate Name(s): Allan-Olney (alternate name)
Biography: Mary Allan Olney was born in 1837 in Saltash, Cornwall, the eldest child of solicitor Harvey Allan Olney (d. 1848) and his wife Jane Ann (née Carpenter). Her younger sister was the noted headmistress Sarah Allen Olney. Her early life cannot be traced. Based on the settings of her three novels, she traveled widely. She lived for a time in Virginia where her brother Harvey owned land. Olney used the experiences for a travel book The New Virginians (1880). She is probably best remembered for her biography The Private Life of Galileo (1870). In the 1890s, she was still contributing articles to the press. But her death cannot be traced. Presumed to have died abroad.
References: British Census (1841); DNB (Sarah Allen Olney)
Fiction Titles:
- Estelle Russell. 2 vol. London: Macmillan, 1870.
- Junia: A Novel. 3 vol. Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1878.
- Harmonia: A Chronicle. 3 vol. London: Macmillan, 1887.