Isobel Osbourne
| Isobel "Belle" Osbourne Strong Field | |
|---|---|
| Born |
1858 Indianapolis |
| Died | 1953 (aged 94 or 95) |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Stepdaughter of Robert Louis Stevenson |
Isobel "Belle" Osbourne Strong Field (1858-1953) was Robert Louis Stevenson's step-daughter and sister of Lloyd Osbourne.
Biography
Belle was born in Indianapolis to Samuel and Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne and married the artist Joseph Dwight Strong (1853-1899) in 1879, giving birth soon after to a son, Austin Strong (1881-1952). Austin went on to become a successful playwright.[1] Joe Strong had a drinking problem, and Belle divorced him in 1892.[1]
In 1914, she married her mother’s secretary (and possibly lover), the younger journalist Edward Salisbury Field, six months after her mother died.[1] Field was only three years older than her son Austin. When oil was discovered on property owned by Field they became wealthy.[2] In 1926 Field purchased Zaca Lake and surrounding land in the Figueroa Mountains near Los Olivos, California.[3]
Isobel built an artists' studio there and the Field home became a popular meeting place for writers and actors.[4] Isobel and her brother Lloyd wrote about Robert Louis Stevenson and their experiences in Samoa in Memories of Vailima (1902). Later Isobel wrote he her memoirs in two books This Life I've Loved (1937) and A Bit of My Life (1951).
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Belle Strong - Stepdaughter at Robert Louis Stevenson website.
- ↑ Claire Harman. Myself and the Other Fellow: A Life of Robert Lewis Stevenson, HarperCollins 2006, pg.460
- ↑ "Zaca Lake history". Zaca Lake Foundation. Archived from the original on May 22, 2010.
- ↑ Salisbury Field, bio at IMDB
External links
- This Life I've Loved, scanned ebook at Hathi Trust