Ernest Henry Clark Oliphant (14 August 1862 – 20 April 1936),
[
] commonly referred to as E. H. Oliphant or Professor Oliphant, was an Australian journalist, an authority on Elizabethan literature, a popular public speaker and occasional playwright.
Life
Oliphant was the son of Felix Edwin Oliphant (c. 1908 – 19 February 1888) and Mary Bullers Oliphant, née Frost (died 28 March 1894)
His father gave his occupation as "gentleman", and apart from involvement in a few causes associated with aid to immigrants, nothing has been found of his activities, and from the obituaries it would appear Oliphant was closer to his mother.
He was educated at
Scotch College, Melbourne
Scotch College is an independent school, independent Presbyterian Day school, day and boarding school for boys, located in Hawthorn, Victoria, Hawthorn, an inner-eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria, Aus ...
and the
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb n ...
, but did not graduate. He was employed 1884–1888 as a librarian assistant at the
Melbourne Public Library
State Library Victoria (SLV) is the state library of Victoria, Australia. Located in Melbourne, it was established in 1854 as the Melbourne Public Library, making it Australia's oldest public library and one of the first free libraries in the ...
, after which he left for Europe. In 1890 he published in London ''The Mesmerist: a novel'' and three papers on the works of
Beaumont and Fletcher
Beaumont and Fletcher were the English dramatists Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, who collaborated in their writing during the reign of James I (1603–25).
They became known as a team early in their association, so much so that their ...
in ''Englische Studien'',
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...
between 1890 and 1892, later reprinted in pamphlet form.
[
Oliphant returned to Melbourne in 1893 and settled in ]Korumburra, Victoria
Korumburra is a town in the Australian state of Victoria. It is located on the South Gippsland Highway, south-east of Melbourne, in the South Gippsland Shire local government area. At the Korumburra had an urban population of 3,639.
Surrou ...
, where he became editor and proprietor of the ''Korumburra Times'' and in 1895 party to a well-publicised