Jessie Saxby


Jessie Margaret Saxby was an author and folklorist from Unst, one of the Shetland Islands of Scotland. She also had political interests and was a suffragette.

Family

Born on 30 June 1842 at Halligarth, Baltasound, on the Shetland Island of Unst, Saxby's father was Laurence Edmondston, a medical doctor and naturalist; her mother was Eliza Macbrair, a journalist and published author from a Glasgow family. The couple had ten other children including Thomas, a botanist. By her own admission, Saxby received little formal education.
Henry Saxby, a London born ornithologist and doctor, became Saxby's husband on 16 December 1859. The couple had six children but their only daughter died when an infant. They lived on Unst and Henry was a partner in his father-in-law's medical practice until 1871 when poor health necessitated a move to Edinburgh. The following year, in 1872, the family re-located to Inveraray but Henry died aged 37 on 4 September 1873. As a widow with a family to support, Jessie had to rely on the income from her writing and returned to Edinburgh for 17 years before finally moving back to Unst in 1890.

Career

Saxby's career started in the 1860s when several of her tales and some poetry were printed. Lichens from the Old Rock, a poetry book, was published in 1868, the first of the 47 books she authored. The subject matter of her books was varied, covering diverse topics such as romantic fiction, folklore but particularly boys adventure stories. She also wrote around 100 articles that were printed in newspapers, journals and magazines like Life and Work and The Boy's Own Paper.

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