Henry Williamson Society Journal

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ISSUE No. 38, September 2002

Editorial:  Anne Williamson, pp 4-5.    Draws attention to the 50^th Anniversary of the storm and subsequent flooding of Lynmouth, Exmoor, north Devon, of 15 August 1952, which is the basis for the climax of The Gale of the World (15^th and final vol of ACofAS) and showing how HW places Lynmouth strategically within previous vols. of the Chronicle.

Three photographs of the Lynmouth flood disaster:    pp 6-8.   Of 15 August 1952, taken by Henry Williamson on the following day, with accompanying text of his description of this event from The Gale of the World.

Map of the area of North Devon,  p 9.    Described in The Gale of the World (and various other books)

Fledgling Thoughts (Part 1 of talk on ‘The London Trilogy),  Anne Williamson,   pp10-20.       An examination of the early notebooks and journals of HW revealing his thoughts and first attempts at writing stories, including extracts from his unpublished important 1920 journal, containing much material subsequently used in published work.   Includes photographs of HW at the grave of Richard Jefferies, his school friend Rupert Bryers, who features in the books and was killed in WW1.

A School-boys Diary 1913,   Henry Williamson,  pp 21-28.     A full transcript of HW’s diary at the age of 17, during his last year at Colfe’s Grammar School, and the basis for his subsequent writings about his school life.  Includes some facsimile illustration.

Selection of Photographs from the early era,  pp 29-32.    Photographs from the archive of HW and family, and places associated with his early life which feature in his published work, including owlets kept briefly by HW and the basis for one of his earliest published newspaper items (see AW, biog., p 75)

Mature Words (Part 2 of talk on ‘The London Trilogy’), Anne Williamson,   pp 33-46.  Some thoughts about the first 3 volumes of ACofAS known as ‘The London Trilogy’, based on HW’s earliest years in Lewisham up to the outbreak of the first World War.

Thomas Turney and Family,   Peter Lewis,  pp 47-57.    An examination of the role of Thomas Turney (based on HW’s maternal grand-father Thomas Leaver) and his family within the early vols of ACofAS.

Photograph of Thomas Leaver,  pp 58.   In Moorish costume taken at the Alhambra, Spain , 1903

A Critical Approach to A Chronicle of Ancient Sunlight: Part IV, ‘The Second World War and its Aftermath’,   Dr. J W Blench,  pp 59-84.        Examination of the last three vols of ACOFAS: A Solitary War, Lucifer Before Sunrise, The Gale of the World.  Dr Blench continues the précis of the actual story-line which he has furnished from the beginning, with illuminating critical analysis.  Opening with the announcement on the radio by Neville Chamberlain (then Prime minister of Great Britain) that the country is at war with Germany, the first two of these novels deal with life on the Norfolk Farm in wartime and all the attendant problems, including Phillip’s thoughts about Adolf Hitler, and ends with the sale of the farm in 1945, at the end of the war.  The final volume shows Phillip returning alone to live in a shepherd’s hut just below the Chains on Exmoor, above Lynton and Lynmouth, with the climactic scene of the catastrophic storm resulting in the devastation of Lynmouth.  Dr Blench concludes with a selection of comparisons with works of other authors in the same genre: Leo Tolstoy, Anthony Powell and John Galsworthy.

An American’s Pathway to Henry Williamson,   Walker Burns,  pp 85-91.  Walker Burns relates how he came to read HW books via the unusual route of the music of Anthony Phillips and the illustrations of Peter Cross, describing the effect these three have had on his life.  Burns points out that Anthony Phillips was involved with writing Tarka music with Harry Williamson, HW’s son by second marriage.

Reviews,  pp 92-96.    

Literary Lives, ed John Sutherland (OUP, 2001, ISBN 0-19-860406-8).          125 of the original entries in the field of twentieth-century literature from the old The Dictionary of National biography, which includes Richard Frere on HW.

Adrian Bell: Voice of the Countryside, Ann Gander (Holm Oak Publishing, 2001, ISBN 0-9533406-1-9).  A biography of the East Anglian author, poet, and compiler of The Times crosswords, Adrian Bell, 1901-80.

Silent night: The Remarkable Christmas Truce of 1914, Stanley Weintraub      (Simon & Schuster, 2001, ISBN 0-684-86621-8).  Weintraub has brought together a large number of eye-witness accounts in order to prove that the       Christmas Truce really happened (a fact sometimes disputed in the past).  HW’s fictional account  of Phillip’s experiences as recounted in A Fox Under My Cloak fills 16 of its 200 pages.

The Origins of the Organic Movement, Philip Conford  (Floris Books, 2001, ISBN 0-86315-336-4).  A comprehensive account of the history of the organic movement from its beginning which requires a deep understanding of the subject to comprehend it.  Conford shows the connections between this movement and Fascism, giving HW as an example.  One should point out that    although many of HW’s ideas and practices ran parallel to the Organic Movement, he was not an actual member of any of the connected associations.

The Norfolk Bedside Book, Keith Skipper (Mousehold Press, Norwich, 2002, ISBN 1-874739-21-8).  A charming volume of extracts from many sources, all connected with Norfolk.  Contains two short HW pieces.

The Devil’s Chariots: The birth and Secret Battles of the First Tanks, John Glanfield (Sutton Publishing, 2001, ISBN 0-7509-2706-2).   A meticulously researched and well-written history of the origins, and associated politics, of the tanks which emerged as a weapon vehicle of the First World War.  An important work within the history of WW1.  John Glanfield was the first chair of the HW Society.

ISSUE No. 37, September 2001

Editorial, Anne Williamson, p 4.    Thoughts on possible connection between Sir Edward Elgar’s oratorio The Dream of Gerontius and Henry Williamson’s The Star-born. 

'Chasing the Cheriton’, Tony Evans, pp 5-37.  Examination of the real background of the Cheriton Otter Hounds (i.e. Hunt) as found in Records of the Cheriton Otter Hounds by William Rogers, used by Henry Williamson as a source for facts and incidents for Tarka the Otter(1927); amply illustrated with photographs of locations described in Tarka which still exist today. 

‘A Critical Approach to A Chronicle of Ancient Sunlight: Part III, The Inter-war Years’, Dr. J. Wheatley Blench, pp 38-49.   In this section Dr Blench covers the narrative of the Chronicle and Phillip Maddison’s life between 1920 and 1939 and includes volumes entitled: The Innocent Moon (Vol 9); It Was the Nightingale (Vol 10); The Power of the Dead (Vol 11); and The Phoenix Generation (Vol 12).  Within these volumes Phillip Maddison matures from age 25 to 44, and Dr Blench shows how Williamson handles Phillip’s emotional development around his two marriages (including the death in childbirth of his first wife ‘Barley’), mistresses, subsequent children, farming and writing ventures.  Dr Blench examines the character Sir Hereward Birkin (based on Sir Oswald Mosley) and his Imperial Socialist Party (the British Union), showing how Williamson weaves these real historical events into the narrative of his novel sequence, leading up to the outbreak of the Second World War. 

‘A Portrait of Richard Maddison (cont’d)’, Peter Lewis, pp 50-57.   Peter Lewis continues to analyse the character of Richard Maddison, father of Phillip Maddison (and based on HW’s own father), a major character within A Chronicle of Ancient Sunlight, with Part 6 ‘Special Constable’; Part 7 ‘Moonlighter’; and Part 8 ‘Pensioner’, including his death from complications after a prostate operation in 1946.

‘The Bells of Georgeham’, Brian Harris, pp 58-61.  A factual background to the bells of St George’s church, Georgeham (North Devon, England) which particularly feature in Williamson’s essay ‘Surview and Farewell’ (The Labouring Life, 1932, reissued as Life in a Devon Village, 1945) and including contemporaneous newspaper reports about the tragic death of a child that occurred at a church fete (fair) which Williamson used in his book. 

‘Confessions of an English Williamson Addict’, Mike Ruddock, pp 62-66.      Reminiscence of a contact with HW including facsimiles of letters from him (mainly 1958).

‘Voices of the Visions of the Night’, Mary Leopoldina Williamson, pp 67-70. Reprint of a 45pp octavo book, published about 1910.  Written by HW’s aunt, the visionary Romantic ambience and ideas in this book are the underlying  influence of Williamson’s original writing of The Star-born in 1921 (actually pub. 1933, rev ed 1948) (see Anne Williamson, ‘A Daffodyll in the grasses of Mankind’ HWSJ 36, Sept 2000, pp 28-49, where this is discussed briefly on p 29 as part of the background of The Star-born) 

‘Responses to The Star-born’, pp 71-2.  A selection of very short responses to the Spring 2000 investigation (see HWSJ, 36, Sept 2000 for text of papers presented) of the meaning of this important work within HW’s oeuvre by various HWS members.

‘A Chronicle of Ancient Starlight?’, Sue Cumming, pp 73-77.    A personal attempt at understanding the confusing conflicts of The Star-born. 

‘Like Peeling an Onion’, Ben Serjeant, p 78.    Response to The Star-born, linking its ethos to John Clare (English poet and writer). 

‘Parallels with Steiner’, Chris Clarke, p 79.    Response to The Star-born, linking its ethos to the educationalist Rudolf Steiner:  ‘the individual Self is part of the Self of All’. 

‘Life was of the same moment of Truth’, Peter Short, pp 80-83.    A response to The Star-born via HW’s expression of his own spirituality within this book; the title is a quotation from It Was The Nightingale (Vol 10, A Chronicle of Ancient Sunlight, ch 1, p 14).  

‘HW inscriptions from books by him belonging to the Radford family’, pp 84-87.    Supplied by Tony Evans with kind permission of the Radford family, this item follows on from Tony Evans’ illuminating article in HWSJ 36, pp 7-25, on HW’s connections with the Radford family in the early 1920s at the time when he was writing The Star-born.  The Radfords lived at Lydford Gorge, the setting for this book. 

Reviews 

T.E. Lawrence, LETTERS, Vol. IX: Correspondence with Henry Williamson ed. by Peter Wilson and with Prologue and Epilogue by Anne Williamson (Lim. Ed., Castle Hill Press, 2000) reviewed by John Gregory, Vice-Chairman & Publications Manager, HWS, pp 92-3.  This publication of all extant letters between these two men in full is an important volume with regard to HW’s life and work.  From the very first letter regarding Tarka Lawrence was an important influence on Williamson., and it was on his return from sending HW a telegram arranging for them to meet the next day at Lawrence’s cottage for lunch, that Lawrence met with the motorcycle accident that led to his death a few day’s later.  Commentary by Anne Williamson and quotations from Williamson’s  own book about the friendship, Genius of Friendship (1945), puts the correspondence into context, while publication of the final letter Williamson wrote to Lawrence provides proof that stories of a fascist connection between these two men are totally false.  Within the letters can be found much information about both men, particularly Williamson’s writings and his life in general. 

Anne Double, The First Fifty Years of the West Country Writers’ Association (WCWA, 2001), reviewed by Anne Williamson, p 94.   Henry Williamson’s association with the WCWA began at its inauguration in 1950, and he was President from 1960-65, when he demoted himself to Vice-President, which he held until his death in 1977.  Written in an erudite but humorous style, this book celebrates the many writers and personalities that have been involved in the WCWA, not least the present President, the eminent playwright Christopher Fry (The Lady’s Not for Burning, etc).  A valuable contribution to the background of the literary life of this interesting group of writers, with some fresh information (inc. photos) about HW. 

Henry Williamson, A brief look at his life and writings in north Devon in the 1920s and ‘30s, includes a mini-biography by Anne Williamson, 15 extracts from HW’s ‘Devon’ writings, chosen and with accompanying explanatory text on the real life locations and personalities, by Tony Evans, with 16 photographs and 2 maps (inc. HW’s own illustrated map of Georgeham, the village where he lived for a great deal of his life) (HWS, 2001, 52pp, £3), p 95.  This book has been produced to plug the gap of information about HW within the ‘tourist’ market, i.e. a cheap and cheerful book for the casual reader.  Williamson’s early work is not in print and so this is a very good and informative introduction to stories which are really among his best work.  It is available from outlets in north Devon or direct from the Society.

Anne Williamson, A Patriot’s Progress: Henry Williamson and the First World War (Sutton Publishing, 1998), p 96.  A reprint of a review by William Rawling (National Defence HQ, Ottawa, Canada) which first appeared in Albion, Vol 32, No 1, Spring 2000, (Appalachian State University, Boone, USA) a quarterly journal concerned with British Studies.    Rawling considers the book, with its multi-level narrative which captures the variety and subtleties that made up a soldier’s experience, to be a primary source for the historian of the First World War.  Anne Williamson reproduces Henry Williamson’s letters home to his mother, his diary entries, and his official field notebooks and interweaves them into commentary on the fabric of the war on the western front in Flanders and at home, his family and friends and the social history of England at that time.

INDEX to Issues 1–31

CONTENTS

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