British Writers – Page 2

On this day in history….28th March 1941

On this day in history : 28th March 1941 – English novelist Virginia Woolf, whilst suffering from depression, commits suicide by drowning herself in a river near to her Sussex home….

Virginia Stephen (Woolf) 1902 – Photo: George Charles Beresford

Born Adeline Virginia Stephen on the 25th of January 1882 Virginia suffered with her mental health throughout her life…. Her first breakdown occurred in 1895, after the death of her mother….

Virginia met her future husband, Leonard Woolf, in November 1904 – they eventually married on the 10th of August 1912…. However, she continued to suffer periods of mood swings, manic excitement and psychotic episodes; she attempted suicide on more than one occasion. Psychiatrists today consider her illness to have been bipolar disorder….

Her diary indicates she had become obsessed with death after the beginning of World War II…. After the Woolfs’ London home was bombed during the Blitz they moved to another house nearby – only for that to be made un-inhabitable in the same way…. It was at this point they moved to their country home near to Lewes, Sussex….

After completing the manuscript for what was to be her final novel ‘Between the Acts’, which was published posthumously, Virginia fell into a deep depression…. It was on a Friday that she decided to take a walk, along the banks of the River Ouse, which lay close to her home….it was a walk she was never to return from…. She left behind two notes; one for her sister, Vanessa Bell – who lived nearby – and the other for her husband…. It read….

“Dearest. I feel certain that I am going mad again. I feel we can’t go through another of those terrible times. And I shan’t recover this time. I begin to hear voices, and I can’t concentrate. So I am doing what seems the best thing to do. You have given me the greatest possible happiness. You have been in every way all that anyone could be. I don’t think two people could have been happier ’til this terrible disease came. I can’t fight any longer. I know that I am spoiling your life, that without me you could work. And you will I know. You see I can’t even write this properly. I can’t read. What I want to say is I owe all the happiness of my life to you. You have been entirely patient with me and incredibly good. I want to say that — everybody knows it. If anybody could have saved me it would have been you. Everything has gone from me but the certainty of your goodness. I can’t go on spoiling your life any longer. I don’t think two people could have been happier than we have been. V”….

Virginia and Vanessa 1894 – Public domain

Without a doubt the letter stated her intention, it was a suicide note – but gave no indication as to where or how she meant to carry it out….she simply did not come home. Her hat and walking cane were discovered on the river bank but this was the only evidence the family had as to what may have happened to her…. Newspaper reports said that she was missing – but stated that at this stage the police were not investigating her disappearance…. The hope was that she would turn up alive – having been ill for some time perhaps she had just needed some time alone – but as time went by this hope diminished….

Eventually, three weeks later on the 18th of April the gruesome discovery was made by some children…. Her body washed up near to the bridge in the village of Southease….the Press announced the story the following day….

Virginia Woolf had drowned herself by filling the pockets of her overcoat with stones and walking into the River Ouse…. She is considered to be one of the most important modernist writers of the 20th Century…. Leonard buried her cremated ashes beneath an elm tree in the garden of Monk’s House, their home in Rodmell, Sussex – which is now owned by the National Trust….

Monk’s House – image credit: Elisa.rolle CC BY-SA 4.0

On this day in history….19th October 1745

On this day in history : 19th October 1745 – The death of Anglo-Irish author, poet and satirist Jonathan Swift – most famous for his masterpiece Gulliver’s Travels….

Johnathan Swift – portrait by Charles Jervas – Public domain

Swift’s English father had settled in Ireland and married the daughter of an English clergyman…. Then in 1667 he died leaving his pregnant wife and young daughter to be cared for by his in-laws…. Swift was born and the fatherless family was supported by his mother’s brothers – who treated him well and at the age of six he was sent to Kilkenny, the best school in Ireland…. Then he went to Trinity College in Dublin, graduating in February 1686 with a Bachelor of Arts degree….

Swift’s birthplace – 1865 illustration by T.Morton – Houghton Library – Public domain

Returning to England to escape the unrest in Ireland Swift joined the household of his mother’s distant relative Sir William Temple, of Moor Park, near to Farnham in Surrey…. He remained here until Temple’s death in 1699 and it was where his writing career began…. He did return to Ireland a couple of times during this period – and on one such occasion took orders at the Anglican Church, ordaining as a priest in January 1695….. He was to become Vicar of Kilroy, near to Belfast….

After Temple’s death he returned to Dublin for a longer period…. By now he was becoming recognised in London, for his satirical wit as a writer…. His popularity grew, especially for his religious and political essays, such as A Tale of Tub…. Swift became a writer of political pamphlets, first for the Whigs and then the Tories…. But when King George I came to the Throne in 1714 the Tories were ruined…. Swift’s career in England was over….he retreated to Ireland and turned to poetry….

However, his greatest work, Gulliver’s Travels, was yet to come, being published in 1726…. It was originally entitled Travels Into Several Remote Nations of the World and was written under the pseudonym of ‘Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships’…. The prose satire was an immediate success – and was to go on to become one of our classics of English literature…. It is often thought of as being a children’s book but is actually a sophisticated satire of human nature and was based on Swift’s own life experiences….

First edition of Gulliver’s Travels – Public domain

Swift died on the 19th of October 1745 – and was buried in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin – where he had served as Dean from 1713-1745….

Swift at the Deanery, St. Patrick’s – illustration from 1905 Temple Scott edition of ‘Works’ – Public domain

British History

On this day in history….3rd October 1916

On this day in history : 3rd October 1916 – The birth of James Alfred Wight – better known by his pen-name James Herriot and the author of the much loved All Creatures Great and Small….

James Alfred ‘Alf’ Wight – James Herriot – Fair use

James ‘Alf’ Wight was born in Sunderland and while he was still a young child the family moved to Glasgow…. After graduating Glasgow Veterinary College at the age of 23 he briefly worked at a practice in Sunderland before moving to a rural practice in the town of Thirsk, Yorkshire….

In 1941 James married Joan Danbury and they were to have two children, Jim and Rosie…. He joined the Royal Airforce in 1942 but was discharged after being declared unfit to fly following a surgical operation…. He and Joan then lived with her parents for a while before returning to Thirsk in 1946….

The original practice at 23 Kirkgate, Thirsk – Image credit : Peter K Burian – own work – CC BY-SA 4.0

James had always had a desire to write but his busy schedule as a veterinary surgeon meant there was never enough time…. It was his wife who managed to persuade him, once he had turned 50, to put pen to paper…. He wrote several stories which were rejected by publishers – and then he wrote All Creatures Great and Small…. It was followed by If Only They Could Talk, which was published in 1970…. Sales were slow – but then both books were published as one volume in the United States, under the title All Creatures Great and Small and became a massive success on both sides of the Atlantic…. A sequel of books followed, as did two films – All Creatures Great and Small in 1975 and It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet in 1976…. And then came the hugely popular television series….

The BBC series All Creatures Great and Small ran from 1978 – 1980 and then again a sequel 1988 – 1990…. In all a total of 90 episodes were made – with the characters played by Christopher Timothy (as James), Robert Hardy, Peter Davison, Mary Hignett, Carol Drinkwater and later Lynda Bellingham….

The cast of All Creatures Great and Small (TV series) – Fair use

In 1977 James and his family moved to the small village of Thirlby, about four miles from Thirsk…. Such was the popularity of All Creatures Great and Small – and with so many fans now visiting Thirsk – a move was required to gain a little more privacy….

James was awarded with an OBE in 1979….and in 1989 he retired from veterinary work, passing his practice on to his son Jim, who had also qualified as a vet…. His daughter, Rosie, became a GP doctor….

In 1991 James was diagnosed with prostate cancer…. He died on the 23rd of February 1995….

British History

On this day in history….5th September 1969

On this day in history : 5th September 1969 – The death of Scottish naturalist and writer Gavin Maxwell, author of Ring of Bright Water….the story of the otter he brought back from Iraq and raised in Scotland….

Maxwell was born into Scottish aristocracy – at The House of Elrig, near Port William, South Western Scotland…. He was the son of Lieutenant-Colonel Aymer Maxwell and Lady Mary Percy…. His maternal grandfather was the 7th Duke of Northumberland and his paternal grandfather was Sir Herbert Maxwell, 7th Baronet and a natural historian, archaeologist and politician….

The ‘House of Elrig’ – Photo credit : Les Dunford CC BY-SA 2.0

Maxwell had a public school education and from an early age had an interest in natural history…. Giving in to pressure from his family he attended Hertford College, Oxford, where he obtained a degree in estate management….

During World War 2 Maxwell was an instructor with the secret organisation ‘Special Operations Executive’ – he was invalided out in 1944 having reached the rank of Major…. After the War be bought the Isle of Soay, off of Skye and began to pursue his real passion in life, natural history….

In 1956 Maxwell travelled to Iraq, where he was to explore the reed marshes of Southern Iraq with explorer Wilfred Thesiger…. Maxwell had always had a desire to have an otter as a pet and whilst in Iraq he managed to obtain one…. However, sadly it was to die shortly after; Maxwell was devastated…. It was as he was preparing to return to England that Thesiger managed to find another one for him – a smooth coated otter, very dark in colour and about 6 weeks old…. Maxwell named him Mijbil and returned home to Scotland with him….

Maxwell and Mij settled into a new home, ‘Sandaig’, in the Glenreig Community, a remote part of mainland Scotland…. The property had originally been a small holding for the lighthouse keeper of the Sandraig Lighthouse…. It was here at Sandraig that Maxwell raised Mij – although in his books he calls his home ‘Camusfearna’ – ‘the bay of alders’….

Mij seemed different to other otters and when Maxwell presented him to the London Zoological Society they confirmed that he was a previously unknown sub-species…. And so he was named Lutrogale perspicillatra maxwell – ‘Maxwell’s otter’…. Although Maxwell was to keep several other otters Mij became the focus of his life…. The title for his book ‘Ring of Bright Water’, which was first published in 1960, came from a poem by Kathleen Raine…. In 1969 a film of the same name, based loosely on Maxwell’s book, was released starring Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers….

The relationship between Maxwell and Raine was complicated…. She was infatuated with him – and was to describe him as ‘the love of her life’…. Only she was to be left frustrated by his homosexuality…. They had a close friendship – but this was to deteriorate through her indirectly causing the death of Mij…. I wont spoil the story if you have not read the book – but it was a sad state of affairs…. The best-seller is both heart warming and a tear jerker…. It is described as a literacy masterpiece but at the same time it has a dark side…. Nowadays we have a different view about keeping wild animals and raising them as pets….

In February 1962 Maxwell married Lavinia Renton but not surprisingly this marriage ended within less than a year – they divorced in 1964…. The house at Sandraig was destroyed by fire in 1968 and Maxwell moved into the lighthouse keepers’ cottages situated on an island between Skye and the mainland…. He was to die of lung cancer the following year….

Statue of Maxwell’s otter at Montreith by Penny Wheatley – Photo credit : Roger Nunn CC BY-SA 2.0

British History

On this day in history….17th August 1945

On this day in history : 17th August 1945 – George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’ – the book which tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer – is first published….

Orwell was a democratic socialist and a critic of Stalin…. He claimed the story reflected the events which had led up to the Russian Revolution of 1917…. In his essay ‘Why I Write’ in 1946, he stated that Animal Farm was the first book in which he had attempted to ‘fuse political purposes and artistic purpose into one whole’….

Following his experiences during the Spanish Civil War Orwell had written ‘Homage to Catalonia’ in 1938 – but it did not sell well and he decided fiction was the best way to get his message across…. He saw Stalinism as ‘corruption of original socialist ideals’ – he wanted to expose and condemn Stalin’s methods….

Animal Farm was written between November 1943 and February 1944 – at the time when the UK was in a wartime alliance with Russia against Nazi Germany…. The British held Stalin in high esteem and Orwell hated this…. His book was initially rejected by UK and US publishers – but became a success as the relationship with Russia moved towards the Cold War….

The original title had been ‘Animal Farm : A Fairy Story’ but US publishers dropped the second part of the title when they published it in 1946….