Arthur Hodgkin Scaife (c. 1855–1934) was an Australian-born English writer, editor, and insurance agent. He received his education in England and worked as an insurance agent in Constantinople for 18 years. In 1892, he moved to Canada and settled in Victoria. There, he became the founding editor of the weekly newspaper The Province. Scaife wrote two collections of short stories and a novel, which were the first fictional works published in British Columbia. After a brief time in Toronto, he moved to England. In 1900, he published two books: one about the Second Boer War and another that included a satirical poem. Later in his life, Scaife returned to the insurance field. He died in Chiswick, England, in 1934.

Biography

Arthur Hodgkin Scaife was born around 1855 in Melbourne, Australia. He was the only child of Reginald and Amy Scaife. He received his education in England at Bradfield College in Berkshire. Scaife worked in banking and insurance throughout his career. He held a position in Constantinople for 18 years and eventually became the general manager of the New York Life Insurance Company. He also lived and worked in India and the Far East. In 1892, he and his wife traveled across North America to Vancouver, where he planned to open a branch of the New York insurance company.

In Victoria, Scaife became the first editor of the weekly newspaper The Province in 1894. He held this role for three and a half years. A newspaper history column noted that his sharp and direct writing style, along with his willingness to challenge false ideas, helped the newspaper gain many readers. In 1894, he also began creating charts that summarized history for school teaching. His first chart showed English history. Three years later, he became the managing director of the Comparative Synoptical Chart Company in Toronto. His charts were successful financially, and in 1898, he moved to live in England.

In London, Scaife worked again as an agent for the New York Life Insurance Company before joining Confederation Life at Bush House. While living in Chertsey, he was appointed a justice of the peace for Surrey in 1912. He also took on a leadership role in the Liberal party locally. During the second half of World War I, he lived in Pimlico. Scaife died in a nursing home in Chiswick on April 2, 1934, at the age of 78. He was survived by his wife, four sons, and two daughters.

Writing

In 1894, Scaife published his first work of fiction in British Columbia. He used the name Kim Bilir, which was not his real name. The book, called Three Letters of Credit and Other Stories, included five stories that had already appeared in a newspaper called The Province. The longest story in the book was the one that gave the book its name. The stories took place in many different places, such as Constantinople, Vienna, the Black Sea, Winnipeg, and Greece. A magazine from California, The Overland Monthly, said the stories had a lot of humor, interesting characters, and vivid descriptions of places. Another magazine, The Week from Toronto, praised the funny situations in the main story about a bank clerk.

In 1895, Scaife published his first novel in British Columbia, As It Was in the Fifties. The magazine The Week did not know who wrote the book, but it said the story was very strong and that it was hard to find a better one. The magazine gave a detailed summary of the story, which followed the adventures of a young Englishman named Evan Evans as he traveled to the gold fields of British Columbia. A newspaper in Toronto, The Globe, said the book was easy to read and showed good judgment, but it noted that the characters were only fairly well written.

That same year, Scaife published another book of short stories, Gemini and Lesser Lights. The stories were set mainly in Turkey, Montenegro, and Bulgaria. Reviewers praised these stories.

In 1900, while living in London, Scaife published a book about the Second Boer War called The War to Date. Some people thought the book was not very useful, saying it was just a collection of newspaper reports. Others, like the magazine Canadian Magazine, said the book was well written and had excellent illustrations.

Also in 1900, Scaife published his last book, a satirical poem titled The Soliloquy of a Shadow-Shape on a Holiday from Hades. The poem used short verses of four lines each and featured a modern version of Omar Khayyam, a famous poet who wrote a new version of his famous work, the Rubaiyat. Khayyam asked an editor to translate his critique of London society, and the editor agreed. The New York Times called the poem a "delightfully wicked satire." However, The Spectator said the poem did not meet the high standards expected of a satirist.

In addition to his books, Scaife wrote stories and poems for magazines and newspapers. In the 1910s, he wrote articles for newspapers in England and British Columbia. He continued writing poetry until his final years.