J. C. Trewin, 1908-1990

John Courtenay Trewin was born near the Lizard, Cornwall on December 4th 1908, the son of John Trewin, Master Mariner. He was educated at Plymouth College. At the age of 18 he began work as a journalist for The Western Independent in Plymouth, becoming their dramatic critic two years later. In 1933 he moved to London and joined the staff of The Morning Post, continuing his theatre work by acting as the Post's second-string critic. After the merger with The Daily Telegraph in 1937 Trewin worked as a freelance writer. He became a regular contributor to The Observer and eventually joined their staff, working as Literary Editor from 1942 to 1948. In 1958 he took up the position of London dramatic critic for The Birmingham Post, which he continued until his death.

Trewin wrote theatre reviews and articles for other publications throughout his career, including Punch, John O'London's Weekly, The Illustrated London News and The Times . He was the author of many books: studies of English theatre history such as The Edwardian Theatre, discussions of Shakespeare including Five and eighty Hamlets, biographical studies of actors and directors including Peter Brook, Paul Scofield, Edith Evans, Sybil Thorndike, John Neville, Alec Clunes and Robert Donat, and books on his West Country origins such as the autobiographical Up from the Lizard .

Trewin was the editor of The West Country Magazine (1946-1952) and of fifty volumes of Plays of the Year . He was President of the Critics' Circle (1964-1965) and the West Country Writers' Circle (1964-1973), was created a Bard of the Cornish Gorsedd, elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and in 1981 was made an OBE for services to the theatre. He married Wendy Monk in 1938 and they had two sons. He died on February 16th 1990.

From the guide to the Papers of J.C. Trewin, 1783-1990, (Reading University: Special Collections Services)