Isobel "Belle" Osbourne Strong Field (September 18, 1858 – June 26, 1953) was an author and the daughter of

Fanny Stevenson Frances "Fanny" Matilda Van de Grift Osbourne Stevenson (10 March 1840 – 18 February 1914) was an American magazine writer. She became a supporter and later the wife of Robert Louis Stevenson, and the mother of Isobel Osbourne, Samuel Lloyd O ...

and sister of

Lloyd Osbourne Samuel Lloyd Osbourne (April 7, 1868 – May 22, 1947) was an American author and the stepson of the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, with whom he co-authored three books, including '' The Wrecker'', and provided input and ideas on oth ...

. Through her mother's second marriage, she was a stepdaughter of

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as '' Treasure Island'', '' Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...

Biography

Osbourne was born in Indianapolis to Samuel and

Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne Frances "Fanny" Matilda Van de Grift Osbourne Stevenson (10 March 1840 – 18 February 1914) was an American magazine writer. She became a supporter and later the wife of Robert Louis Stevenson, and the mother of Isobel Osbourne, Samuel Lloyd O ...

. She married the artist

Joseph Dwight Strong Joseph Dwight Strong, Jr. (1853–1899) was an American artist and illustrator, known for his paintings. He was active between 1870s until 1899, in the San Francisco Bay Area, Monterey, Kingdom of Hawaii, and Samoa. Early life and education Jo ...

(1853–1899) in 1879, and had a son, Joseph Austin Strong (1881–1952) who later became a successful playwright.Belle Strong - Stepdaughter
at Robert Louis Stevenson website. A second son was born to the Strongs, but he died before his first birthday. Belle and her family lived in Hawaii from 1883 to 1889. She designed the

Royal Order of the Star of Oceania Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

in 1886 for King Kalakaua and was one of the few women to be awarded the honor. Belle and her family moved to

Vailima, Samoa Vailima is the name of a village about four miles south of Apia, the capital of Samoa. The population is 769. Vailima is part of the electoral political district Tuamasaga. Origins The name Vailima means "water in the hand", according to an old ...

, in May 1891 with her mother and step-father. There she was Robert Louis Stevenson's literary assistant transcribing his words when he was too ill to write. Her husband Joseph Strong had a drinking problem and Belle divorced him in 1892. In 1914, she married her mother's secretary (and possibly lover; Robert Louis Stevenson had died in 1894), the younger journalist

Edward Salisbury Field Edward "Ned" Salisbury Field Jr. (February 28, 1878 – September 20, 1936) was an American author, playwright, artist, poet, and journalist. Biography He was born on February 28, 1878 in Indianapolis, Indiana to Edward Salisbury and Sarah Mill ...

, six months after her mother died. Field was only three years older than her son Austin. When oil was discovered on property owned by Field they became wealthy.Claire Harman
''Myself and the Other Fellow: A Life of Robert Lewis Stevenson''
HarperCollins 2006
pg.460
/ref> In 1926 Field purchased

Zaca Lake Zaca may refer to: * Huehue Zaca, a 15th-century Aztec noble and a warrior *The Zaca Fire, the second largest wildfire in modern California history *Zaca Creek, an American country music group *Zaca Creek, a tributary of the Santa Ynez River The ...

and surrounding land in the

Figueroa Mountains Figueroa Mountain is a summit in Santa Barbara County in the U.S. state of California. It is in the San Rafael Mountains, part of the Transverse Ranges group of ranges. The mountain is located in Los Padres National Forest. Figueroa Mountain wa ...

near

Los Olivos, California Los Olivos (; Spanish for "the olive trees") is an unincorporated community in the Santa Ynez Valley of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tourism is popular in this rural area which is an agricultural region with an emphasis on w ...

. Isobel built an artists' studio there and the Field home became a popular meeting place for writers and actors.Salisbury Field
bio at IMDB Isobel and her brother Lloyd wrote about Robert Louis Stevenson and their experiences in Samoa in ''Memories of Vailima'' (1902). Later Isobel wrote her memoirs in two books ''This Life I've Loved'' (1937) and ''A Bit of My Life'' (1951). File:'Allen Herbert's House', 1896 watercolor by Isobel Osbourne, Honolulu Academy of Arts.JPG, ''Allen Herbert’s House'', 1896 watercolor painting by Isobel Osbourne,

Honolulu Museum of Art The Honolulu Museum of Art (formerly the Honolulu Academy of Arts) is an art museum in Honolulu, Hawaii. The museum is the largest of its kind in the state, and was founded in 1922 by Anna Rice Cooke. The museum has one of the largest single co ...

File:Hawaiian Naval Ensign (PP-23-4-004).jpg, Isobel Osbourne designed a royal naval ensign similar to this for the

Kaimiloa HHMS ''Kaimiloa'' was the first and only ship of the Hawaiian Royal Navy. The ship was formerly the ''Explorer'', a 170-ton schooner, built in England in 1871. ''Kaimiloa'' sailed from Hawaii to Samoa and other Pacific islands in 1887 in an effo ...

, the flagship of the Royal Hawaiian Navy.

References

External links

*
''This Life I've Loved''
scanned ebook at

Hathi Trust HathiTrust Digital Library is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries including content digitized via Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digitized locally ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osbourne, Isobel 1858 births 1953 deaths American women writers Robert Louis Stevenson Recipients of the Royal Order of the Star of Oceania