Violet Tweedale, née Chambers (1862 – 10 December 1936), was a Scottish author, poet, and spiritualist.Peter Zavon
Violet Tweedale
''Encyclopedia of Occultism & Parapsychology'', Thomson Gale, 2000 (Answers.com). She was a prolific writer of

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

, published as anthologies, and novels, often with a romantic or supernatural theme. She wrote over 30 books on spiritual subjects, such as ''The Cosmic Christ'' (1930), and her own personal psychic experiences were documented in ''Ghosts I Have Seen'' (1920). Apart from her literary output, she was a gifted amateur artist, embroiderer, and an accomplished pianist; she was also a skilled orator who spoke up for workers' rights. Tweedale was an avid

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

er and was known as the best woman golfer in her region.

Life and work

Violet Tweedale was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

, the eldest daughter of Robert Chambers Jr., editor of ''

Chambers' Journal ''Chambers's Edinburgh Journal'' was a weekly 16-page magazine started by William Chambers in 1832. The first edition was dated 4 February 1832, and priced at one penny. Topics included history, religion, language, and science. William was so ...

'', and the granddaughter of Robert Chambers, the publisher and founder of W & R Chambers. In her teens she assisted her father in his work, and in 1889 moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

where she had her first novel, ''And They Two'', published, and became involved in humanitarian "rescue work" in the East End. In 1891, she married Clarens Tweedale.'' /archive.org/stream/everywomansencyc02londuoft#page/1380/mode/1up Every woman's encyclopaedia, volume 2' p. 1380 (1910-12). In London, she moved in the best social circles, counting among her friends, poet Robert Browning, artist

Frederic Leighton Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton, (3 December 1830 – 25 January 1896), known as Sir Frederic Leighton between 1878 and 1896, was a British painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. His works depicted historical, biblical, and classical subjec ...

, Anne Proctor (mother of Adelaide Proctor) and many others. She also had influential contacts abroad including Marie, Countess of Caithness, Duchess of Medina Pomar (Papal States), who was close to prominent

theosophist Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion ...

Helena Blavatsky Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, uk, Олена Петрівна Блаватська, Olena Petrivna Blavatska (; – 8 May 1891), often known as Madame Blavatsky, was a Russian mystic and author who co-founded the Theosophical Society in 187 ...

. In 1901-1902, her recently published work, ''Her Grace's Secret'' was reworked into a play by

Arnold Bennett Enoch Arnold Bennett (27 May 1867 – 27 March 1931) was an English author, best known as a novelist. He wrote prolifically: between the 1890s and the 1930s he completed 34 novels, seven volumes of short stories, 13 plays (some in collaboratio ...

, but it was never produced. Claiming to be

psychic A psychic is a person who claims to use extrasensory perception (ESP) to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance, or who performs acts that are apparently inexplicable by natural laws ...

from a young age, she became involved in

spiritualism Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and Mind-body dualism, dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century, Spiritualism (w ...

and theosophy, and was a close associate of Helena Blavatsky. She worked with the

mediums Mediumship is the practice of purportedly mediating communication between familiar spirits or spirits of the dead and living human beings. Practitioners are known as "mediums" or "spirit mediums". There are different types of mediumship or spir ...

Charles Williams and

Cecil Husk Cecil Husk (1847-1920) was a British professional singer and spiritualist medium. Biography Husk was a professional singer and member of the Carl Rosa Opera Company. His eyesight deteriorated and he became a full-time medium. It was alleged he co ...

(1847–1920), and was called as an expert witness when trance medium, Meurig Morris, sued the '' Daily Mail'' for libel in April 1932—although the case went against Morris, no fraud or dishonesty on the medium's part was proven.

Bibliography (selected)

;Non-fiction *
Ghosts I have seen: and other psychic experiences
' (New York: F.A. Stokes Co., 1919). *''Phantoms of the Dawn'' (J. Long, 1924). Preface by Arthur Conan Doyle. *''Found dead and other true ghost stories'' (Herbert Jenkins, 1928). *Mellow sheaves (Rider, 1927). *
The Cosmic Christ
' (Rider, 1930). ;Fiction *''An Empty Heritage'' (1908). *''Her Grace's secret'' (Jacobs, 1901). *''The hazards of life'' (John Long, 1904) *''The honeycomb of life'' (1904). *''Lord Eversleigh's Sins'' (John Long, 1905). *''Lady Sarah's son'' (1906). *''The portals of love'' (J. Long, 1906). *''The sweets of office'' (Long, 1907). *''The Quenchless Flame'' (John Long, London, 1909). *''Hypocrites and sinners'' (J. Long, 1910). *''A Reaper of the Whirlwind'' (John Long, 1911). *''The House of the Other World'' (John Long Ltd., London, 1913) *''An unholy alliance'' (1915). *''Love and war'' (1916). *''Wingate's wife'' (J. Long, 1916). *''The heart of a woman'' (Hurst and Blackett Ltd., 1917). *''The Veiled Woman'' (H. Jenkins, 1918). *''The Beautiful Mrs. Davenant'' (Frederick A. Stokes, New York, 1920). *''The Green Lady'' (Herbert Jenkins, 1921). *''The Passing Storm'' (1922). *''The Mammonist'' (Hutchinson, 1927).

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tweedale, Violet 1862 births 1936 deaths 19th-century British women writers 19th-century British writers 19th-century British short story writers British women short story writers Esoteric Christianity Scottish occultists Writers from Edinburgh Scottish occult writers Scottish short story writers Scottish spiritualists Scottish spiritual writers Scottish Theosophists Scottish women writers Victorian women writers Victorian writers