Maria Trinidad Howard Sturgis Middlemore (also wrote as Mrs. S. C. G. Middlemore and M. H. Sturgis; née Sturgis; July 26, 1846 in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

– February 11, 1890 in

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, England) was an

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Filipina Filipinos ( tl, Mga Pilipino) are the people who are citizens of or native to the Philippines. The majority of Filipinos today come from various Austronesian ethnolinguistic groups, all typically speaking either Filipino, English and/or other ...

author. She is notable for her collection and translation of Spanish-language folktales into English.

Writing

Her first work ''Round a Posada Fire: Spanish Legends'' appeared in 1881. In the preface, she declares that her intention is to introduce her readers to an overlooked element of Spanish culture: that of peasant folktales. "There is hardly a more superstitious creature on the face of the globe than the Spaniard. He delights in everything ghostly and supernatural ..." she declares. She also notes that most of the stories have already been published in American journals, but adds the new "Lovers of Teruel," about a pair of star-crossed lovers who die from thwarted love. In 1885, her ''Spanish Legendary Tales'' was published. It contained thirty folktales from northern Spain. She wrote in the preface: “Friends have remarked to me on the weird and tragic air of many of these tales. The answer is simply that such, as a fact, is the general character of the Spanish legend.” The tales speak of ghosts, witches, religious miracles and werewolves. "The Serpent Woman" and "The Were-Wolf" are both noted as early examples of

speculative fiction Speculative fiction is a term that has been used with a variety of (sometimes contradictory) meanings. The broadest interpretation is as a category of fiction encompassing genres with elements that do not exist in reality, recorded history, na ...

in the Internet Speculative Fiction Database. She also translated, scored, and arranged many Spanish folk songs which continued to be popular long after her death.

Personal life

She was born in Manila, the daughter of United States Consul to the Philippines Henry Parkman Sturgis. The family made its fortune in trade between Canton and Manila through the firm Russell & Sturgis, co-founded by her father in 1828 as an offshoot of Russell & Co. She was the cousin of British politician

Henry Parkman Sturgis Henry Parkman Sturgis (1 March 1847 – 1 March 1929) was an American-born banker in England and a Liberal politician. Early life Sturgis was born in the United States on 1 March 1847. He was a son of Russell Sturgis and his third wife, Julia O ...

, who was named after her father. She was raised as

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

. She spoke Spanish, French, Italian, German, and English fluently. She married English translator and journalist Samuel George Chetwynd Middlemore (1848-1890). They married on April 18, 1881 at the

Palazzo Vecchio The Palazzo Vecchio ( "Old Palace") is the City hall, town hall of Florence, Italy. It overlooks the Piazza della Signoria, which holds a copy of Michelangelo's ''David (Michelangelo), David'' statue, and the gallery of statues in the adjacent ...

in Florence, where their wedding was attended by Henry James. She died in 1890, only two weeks after her husband's death and was interred at Malvern. Her brother Frederick Russell Sturgis was her heir.

List of works

Written works

* ''Songs of the Pyrenees with Spanish, French, and English Words'' (1877), with W. P. Blake
Reissued 1918.
* ''Round a Posada Fire: Spanish Legends'' (London: W. Satchell and Co., 1881). * ''Spanish Legendary Tales'' (London: Chatto and Windus, 1885).

Arrangements and recordings

''A Basque Song: Alza, Alza''
(Boston: Arthur P. Schmidt & Co., c. 1886), with W. P. Blake. *
Linda Mia: Spanish Folk Song
' (Camden, N.J.: Victor Record, c. 1912). Recorded Jan. 10, 1905. Arranged by M.H. Sturgis, W.P. Blake.
''Linda Mia: Spanish Folk Song''
Recorded March 24, 1923. Arranged by M.H. Sturgis, W.P. Blake.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Middlemore, Maria Trinidad Howard Sturgis 1846 births 1890 deaths Sturgis family Writers from Manila Spanish translators Spanish–English translators 19th-century Filipino women 19th-century Filipino women writers 19th-century women writers 19th-century women composers People from the Spanish East Indies