Frederick John Niven
Frederick John Niven was a Chilean-born author, born in 1878 in Santiago, who spent significant portions of his life in Scotland and Canada. As the third child of a British consulate member and a Calvinist mother, his upbringing in South America and later transition to Scotland played a crucial role in shaping his literary work. Niven initially pursued a career in commercial design but later turned to writing after relocating to the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, where he regained his health from a serious lung condition. His experiences in Canada inspired several novels, including "The S.S. Glory" and "Wild Honey."
Throughout his career, he published over thirty novels, often reflecting on Scottish and Canadian life, and received editorial support from Isobel Thorne, who helped refine his early works. Niven married Thorne's daughter, Mary Pauline, in 1911. During World War I, he contributed to the British war effort through editing, collaborating with notable figures such as John Buchan. Niven continued to write prolifically until his death in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1944, leaving behind a legacy that explores the intersections of his diverse cultural experiences.
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Frederick John Niven
Author
- Born: March 31, 1878
- Birthplace: Santiago, Chile
- Died: January 30, 1944
- Place of death: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Biography
Frederick John Niven was born in 1878 in Santiago, Chile, the third child of John Niven, a member of the British consulate in Chile, and Jane Barclay Niven. Niven grew up in South America, an autobiographical element that deeply influenced his writing. He moved to Scotland at the age of five and later attended Hutcheson’s Grammar School in Glasgow and the Glasgow School of Art. Although his Calvinist mother wanted him to become a minister, Niven was far more interested in art and choose a career in commercial design.
After he was diagnosed with a serious lung condition and was advised to move to a healthier environment, he went to the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, where he lived with missionary friends of his parents. He eventually regained his health and set out to explore the area’s natural bounties. He also took a construction job and wrote descriptions of his Canadian adventures, which were published in the Glasgow Herald. His experiences in Canada during these years were the basis for two of his novels, The S.S. Glory and Wild Honey.
Isobel Thorne, a fiction editor at Shurey’s Publications in London, edited Niven’s first three novels, The Lost Cabin Mine, The Island Providence, and A Wilderness of Monkeys, which examined the nature of art. Niven married Thorne’s daughter, Mary Pauline Thorne-Quelch, in 1911.
At the onset of World War I, Niven returned to England from Canada. Since he was ineligible for military service, he served the British war effort by editing articles in the War Office. Here, he worked with John Buchan, the author of the popular novel The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915), and Lord Tweedsmuir, the governor-general of Canada. In the highly prolific decade of the 1910’s, Niven published numerous works, including Above Your Heads, a collection of short stories which dealt with life in Scotland, and the novels Hands Up!, Ellen Adair, The Porcelain Lady, Justice of the Peace, and Two Generations. In all, Niven wrote more than thirty novels based upon his Scottish and Canadian life experiences.
In the 1920’s, Niven and his wife settled in British Columbia, Canada, where he continued to write and remained until the end of his life. He died in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1944.