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 quarter, 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.
Charles Frederick Tunncliffe (1901-1979), wildlife painter, etcher and illustrator, was a friend of Williamson's and illustrated a number of his works, including Tarka the Otter and Salar the Salmon .
From the guide to the Williamson-Tunnicliffe Correspondence, 1932-1977, 1932-1977, (University of Exeter)
