Harold John Massingham was born in 1888 and spent his early life in London where he was educated at Westminster School. This was followed by Queen's College Oxford at which he first read history, later transferring to English literature but he failed to graduate due to illness. Massingham returned to London to follow a career in journalism where he worked for the Morning Leader, National Press Agency and the Athenaeum 1912-1914. He made weekly contributions to the Nation and Athenaeum 1916-1924. He also contributed to The Field 1938-1951 and the Spectator in 1951. As a precursor to the modern ecological movement and a major contributor to English rural literature he encompassed all facets of English rural life from pre history to the twentieth century. Massingham's interests in literature, art, ornithology, archaeology, anthropology, geology, topography, agricultural and rural history were all brought to bear on his subject of England and it's countryside. He died in 1952.
From the guide to the The MASSINGHAM COLLECTION, 1928-1944, (University of Reading, Museum of English Rural Life)
