Biography Laurence_Oliphant_(author)

attack of british legation in tōzen-ji, edo, in 1861

in 1861 oliphant appointed first secretary of british legation in japan under minister plenipotentiary (later sir) rutherford alcock. arrived in edo @ end of june, on evening of 5 july night-time attack made on legation xenophobic ronin. pistols having been locked in travelling box, oliphant rushed out hunting whip, , attacked japanese heavy two-handed sword. beam, invisible in darkness, interfered blows, oliphant severely wounded , sent on board ship recover. had return england after visit tsushima island, discovered russian force occupying secluded bay , obtained withdrawal. attack on legation left him permanent damage 1 of hands.

oliphant returned england, resigned diplomatic service , elected parliament in 1865 stirling burghs. while did not show conspicuous parliamentary ability, made great success novel piccadilly (1870). fell under influence of spiritualist prophet thomas lake harris, in 1861 had organised small community, brotherhood of new life, settled in brocton on lake erie, , subsequently moved santa rosa, california.

after having been refused permission join harris in 1867, allowed join community , oliphant left parliament in 1868 follow harris brocton. lived there several years engaged in harris termed use , manual labour aimed @ forwarding utopian vision. members of community allowed return outside world time time earn money community. after 3 years oliphant worked correspondent times during franco-german war, , afterwards spent several years in paris in service of paper. there met, through mother, future wife, alice le strange. married @ st george s, hanover square, london, on 8 june 1872. in 1873 oliphant went brocton wife , mother.

later , mother had falling out harris , demanded money (allegedly derived sale of lady maris oliphant s jewels) back. forced harris sell brocton colony , remaining disciples moved new colony in santa rosa, california.

in 1879, oliphant left palestine, hoped promote jewish agricultural settlement. later, saw these settlements means of alleviating jewish suffering in eastern europe. visited constantinople in hopes of obtaining lease on northern half of holy land , settling large numbers of jews there (this prior first wave of jewish settlement zionists in 1882). did not see impossible task in view of large numbers of christian believers in united states , england supported plan. financial support christadelphians , others in britain, oliphant amassed sufficient funding purchase land , settle jewish refugees in galilee.

oliphant house in haifa

oliphant , wife, alice, settled in palestine, dividing time between house in german colony in haifa, , in druze village of daliyat al-karmel on mount carmel. oliphant s secretary naftali herz imber, author of israeli national anthem, hatikva, lived them.

in 1883, oliphant wrote altiora peto. in 1884, , wife collaborated on sympneumata: evolutionary forces active in man together. following year, oliphant wrote novel, masollam.

in december 1885, oliphant s wife became ill , died on 2 january 1886. oliphant, stricken, weak attend funeral. persuaded after death in closer contact when still alive, , believed inspired him write scientific religion. in november 1887, oliphant went england publish book.

grave of oliphant in twickenham cemetery in 2014

in 1888, traveled united states , married second wife, rosamond, granddaughter of robert owen in malvern. couple planned return haifa, oliphant took sick @ york house, twickenham, , died there on 23 december 1888. obituary in times said of him, seldom has there been more romantic or amply filled career; never, perhaps, stranger or more apparently contradictory personality.