Williamson, Henry

Epithet: horse-thief

British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000000300.0x0000cd

Epithet: novelist

British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000001240.0x0003dc

Henry Williamson (1895-1977), writer, was born in south London and educated at Colfe's Grammar School, Lewisham. He fought in the army in the First World War and gained a deep sense of the futility of conflict as a result. He worked as a journalist for a short while before writing his first novel, The Beautiful Years, in 1921. This became volume one of a quartet, named The Flax of Dreams . At the same time he moved to North Devon and, in 1927, wrote there Tarka the Otter, the book on which his fame most heavily rests, and A Patriot's Progress (1930), based on his trench experiences. After Salar the Salmon (1935) he became an outspoken supporter of German reform and British fascism, which led to his being briefly interned at the start of the war. His postwar work, which is arguably his most important, is a cycle of fifteen novels entitled, A Chronicle of Ancient Sunlight, which was completed in 1960.

Stuart Petre Brodie Mais (1885-1975), writer and broadcaster, was born on 4th July 1885, the son of the Revd John Brodie Stuart Mais, Rector of Holy Trinity Church, Tansley, Matlock, Derbyshire, and his wife Hannah Horden Mais. He was educated at Dewstone and Christ Church, University of Oxford, where he graduated in English Literature in 1909. He received an MA in 1913. He taught in schools for many years (1909-1920, and 1941-1945), before turning to a career in journalism. He was literary critic on the Evening News in 1918 and at the Daily Express between 1921 and 1923. He then became literary editor at the Daily Graphic from 1923-1926, before becoming leader writer and book reviewer for the Daily Telegraph from 1926-1931. He published prolifically on a number of topics, his main interests being travel, books and the countryside. He was Professor of English at the RAF Cadet College, and was also examiner and lecturer to the University of London. He died on 21st April 1975.

From the guide to the Correspondence of Henry Williamson and Stuart Petre Brodie Mais, 1929-1938, (University of Exeter)

Henry Williamson (1895-1977), writer, was born in south London and educated at Colfe's Grammar School, Lewisham. He fought in the army in the First World War and gained a deep sense of the futility of conflict as a result. He worked as a journalist for a short while before writing his first novel, The Beautiful Years, in 1921. This became volume one of a quartet, named The Flax of Dreams . At the same time he moved to North Devon and, in 1927, wrote there Tarka the Otter, the book on which his fame most heavily rests, and A Patriot's Progress (1930), based on his trench experiences. After Salar the Salmon (1935) he became an outspoken supporter of German reform and British fascism, which led to his being briefly interned at the start of the war. His postwar work, which is arguably his most important, is a cycle of fifteen novels entitled, A Chronicle of Ancient Sunlight, which was completed in 1960.

Joyce Wright was daughter of Tom Sargent, a railway engineer, and his wife Minnie, an artist. She was born in August 1924 in Singapore, and was educated partly in Samatra. Returning to the UK, her parents died and she was brought up by her aunt and uncle and sent to school at St. Elphins. She initially trained as a secretary in Newquay, and then joined the Wrens as a writer, based at Charlton Hawthorn, Devon. She was then posted overseas to Ceylon, where she met Robert (Bob) Wright, whom she married in February 1946. Returning to the UK, they eventually settled in Cornwall, before moving to Devon in 1954. She initiated a personal correspondence with Henry Williamson, whose work she greatly admired, in 1953, which continued spasmodically until her death on 10 October 1960.

From the guide to the Henry Williamson: letters to Joyce Wright, 1953-1960, (University of Exeter)

Henry Williamson (1895-1977), writer, was born in south London and educated at Colfe's Grammar School, Lewisham. He fought in the army in the First World War and gained a deep sense of the futility of conflict as a result. He worked as a journalist for a short while before writing his first novel, The Beautiful Years, in 1921. This became volume one of a quartet, named The Flax of Dreams . At the same time he moved to North Devon and, in 1927, wrote there Tarka the Otter, the book on which his fame most heavily rests, and A Patriot's Progress (1930), based on his trench experiences. After Salar the Salmon (1935) he became an outspoken supporter of German reform and British fascism, which led to his being briefly interned at the start of the war. His postwar work, which is arguably his most important, is a cycle of fifteen novels entitled, A Chronicle of Ancient Sunlight, which was completed in 1960.

Brocard Sewell (1912-2000) was born Michael Sewell on 30th July 1912 in Bangkok, where his father, Cecil Sewell, held a teaching post. His mother Ethel died shortly after his birth and he was sent to Cornwall to be raised by his maternal grandparents, Charles and Ethel Grylls. He left school when he was 16 and, three years later, became a Catholic. His first foray into the mendicant life was with the Dominicans, which was a temporary arrangement, interrupted not least by the War. He saw service with the Air Force, as a map specialist. He spent a year in occupied Germany after the War and forged lifelong friendships there. On re-entering civilian life he again tried his vocation and was attracted to the Canons Regular of the Lateran. He had known the Order both in Cornwall and London and it was at their Church of St Peter-in-Chains, Stroud Green that he had become a Catholic in 1931. In 1952 he realised his long-term hope of becoming a Carmelite friar. He had previously tried to join the Order in 1937 but had met with a seeming rebuff. Aylesford Priory in Kent was to be his home for a number of years and here he set about establishing a fine Community Library. He also established the St Albert's Press where he continued the tradition of fine hand-printed works. For some 12 years he edited the Aylesford Review which became a significant literary magazine. Contributors included Thomas Merton, Muriel Spark and Henry Williamson. In the last twenty years of his life Brocard lived variously in Carmelite communities at Cheltenham, Faversham and latterly in North London. He was once described, paraphrasing Muriel Spark's phrase, as being "an Edinburgh Festival all on his own".

In January 1958 Brocard Sewell brought out a special edition of the Aylesford Review devoted to Henry Williamson, whom he felt deserved wider recognition. The edition gave rise to a close friendship between the two men, which continued until Henry Williamson's death in 1977.

From the guide to the Henry Williamson: correspondence with Brocard Sewell, 1957-1975, (University of Exeter)

Henry Williamson (1895-1977), writer, was born in south London and educated at Colfe's Grammar School, Lewisham. He fought in the army in the First World War and gained a deep sense of the futility of conflict as a result. He worked as a journalist for a short while before writing his first novel, The Beautiful Years, in 1921. This became volume one of a quartet, named The Flax of Dreams . At the same time he moved to North Devon and, in 1927, wrote there Tarka the Otter, the book on which his fame most heavily rests, and A Patriot's Progress (1930), based on his trench experiences. After Salar the Salmon (1935) he became an outspoken supporter of German reform and British fascism, which led to his being briefly interned at the start of the war. His postwar work, which is arguably his most important, is a cycle of fifteen novels entitled, A Chronicle of Ancient Sunlight, which was completed in 1960.

The Watkins were close friends of Williamson, often meeting up and arranging to go on holiday together. The Watkins lived in London where Eric Watkins worked as a sub-editor for the News Chronicle on Fleet Street. Otherwise, little is known about the couple.

From the guide to the Henry Williamson: letters to Eric and Kathleen Watkins, 1936-1974, (University of Exeter)