Birrell, Francis, 1889-1935

Francis Frederick Locker Birrell (1889-1935), journalist, drama critic and bookseller, was the son of Augustine Birrell (1850-1933), literary critic, essayist, barrister and Liberal politician. He was educated at Eton College, and at King s College, Cambridge, where he met Lytton Strachey in October 1909. By Christmas he was integrated in the Bloomsbury circle and visiting the Stephens in Fitzroy Square. He was also a friend of David Garnett with whom in 1914 he started a play-reading group, the Caroline Club.

In June 1915 Birrell and Garnett joined the Society of Friends War Victims Relief Mission. They crossed to France and were stationed at Sommeilles, a war-ravaged village on the southern fringe of the Argonne Forest. Although Garnett returned to England in the following winter, Birrell remained with the Mission until 1919, editing a magazine which kept American Quakers who were serving with relief teams in Europe in touch with each other. This collection comprises papers from Birrell s time in France.

From 1919 to 1924 Birrell and Garnett jointly ran a bookshop at 19 Taviton Street, London. Garnett sold his share in 1924 but Birrell retained his interest until 1927. He edited a series of books on Representative Women for the publishers, Gerald Howe, and from 1931 was a regular critic in the New Statesman . His health gave way in 1932 and he died in 1935.

Source: Alan&Veronica Palmer, Who s who in Bloomsbury (Brighton: Harvester Press, 1987), 19-20.

From the guide to the The Birrell Papers, 1915-1919, (University of Sussex Library)