Hugh Walpole

Sir Hugh Seymour Walpole (March 13, 1884 - June 1, 1941) was an English novelist.

Biography

He was born in Auckland in New Zealand and educated in England at the King's School, Canterbury and Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He worked as a teacher before turning to writing full time. Walpole's first novel was "The Wooden Horse" (1909) and "Fortitude" (1913) his first great novelistic success. He worked for the Red Cross in Russia during World War I, an experience that fed his "The Dark Forest" (1916) and "The Secret City" (1919). The latter won the inaugural James Tait Black Memorial Prize.

His father had been appointed the Bishop of Edinburgh in 1910, providing Hugh with experiences commemorated in his play "The Cathedral" (1922).

Walpole lived at Brackenburn Lodge, on the slopes of Catbells in the Lake District, from 1924 to his death. There he wrote many of his best known works, including the family saga "The Herries Chronicle", comprising "Rogue Herries" (1930), "Judith Paris" (1931), "The Fortress" (1932) and "Vanessa" (1933). Another Herries story, "The Church in the Snow", was published in "The Queen's Book of the Red Cross". "Farthing Hall" (1929) was produced in collaboration with J.B. Priestley.

Walpole's work was very popular and brought him financial security. He kept an apartment in Piccadilly, London. He was a prolific and versatile writer whose works came to include short stories; bildungsroman ("Mr Perrin and Mr Traill", 1911, and the "Jeremy" trilogy) that delve deep into the psychology of boyhood; gothic horror novels ("Portrait of a Man with Red Hair", 1925, and "The Killer & The Slain", 1942); biographies (of Joseph Conrad in 1916, James Branch Cabell in 1920, and Anthony Trollope in 1928); plays; and screenplays (the George Cukor-directed "David Copperfield",1935). He was also a member of the Detection Club and contributed to the 1930 BBC serial written by members of that body, "Behind the Screen", published in 1983 as "The Scoop and Behind the Screen".

Walpole was knighted in 1937. He died of a heart attack brought on by over exertion while doing volunteer war work in 1941 in Keswick. He is buried in Keswick churchyard in Cumberland.

Sir Hugh Walpole was a key member of an exclusive literary clique in 1930s London that also included Noel Coward and Ivor Novello. W. H. Auden visited him in the 1930s.

Trivia

Hugh Walpole and his book "Rogue Herries" were mentioned in passing in Monty Python's Flying Circus "Cheese Shop Sketch".In the version included on the Monty Python DVD (which is the originally televised version), Walpole is referred to erroneously as 'Horace Walpole' (no relation). The Instant Record Collection refers to him correctly.

References

*Hart-Davis, Rupert: "Hugh Walpole" (Macmillan & Co, 1952).
*Walpole, Hugh: "The Sea Tower: A Love Story" (Book Club, 1940).
* [http://www.violetbooks.com/walpole-bib.html Hugh Walpole] a short biography and bibliography, introduced by Jessica Amanda Salmonson at Violet Books. Accessed June 2008

External links

*
* [http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3Ahugh%20walpole%20-contributor%3Agutenberg%20AND%20mediatype%3Atexts Works by Hugh Walpole] at Internet Archive