Who was Arnold Bennett?
Novelist, Short Story Writer, Dramatist and Journalist.
Date and Place of Birth:
27th May 1867, Hanley, Staffordshire, England.
Family Background:
Son of a Solicitor and eldest of nine children.
Education:
Middle School, Newcastle under Lyme, Staffordshire.
University of London. Trained to be a Solicitor.
Chronology/Biography of Arnold
Bennett:
1893: Originally
trained as a solicitor he had become a solicitor’s clerk but turned
to journalism and became the Assistant Editor of the Journal “Woman”.
1896: Became Editor
of "Woman".
1898: He published
his first novel “The Man from the North”.
1902: Moved to Paris
where he was to spend ten years writing.
1908: Continued
writing novels and his “Anna of the Five Towns”, which expressed
the gritty realism of life in the Potteries was published.
1912: The first
part of the “Clayhanger” series, on which much of his later fame
was to rest, was published followed by “Hilda Lessways” in 1911
and “These Twain” in 1916. These books again reflected life in the
five Staffordshire towns that chiefly made up the Potteries. His
play, written in conjunction with Edwards Kniblock, was very popular
and performed many times.
1914: Soon after
the outbreak of the First World War a meeting was held by Charles
Masterson, the Head of the War Propaganda Bureau at Wellington House,
to discuss with leading authors of the day how best to promote Britain’s
interests Also present were such names as H.G.
Wells, John Galsworthy, Thomas
Hardy and Rudyard Kipling. Bennett
quickly became one of the main members of this organisation. He
wrote an article “A Statement of the British Case” for the United
States newspaper the “Saturday Evening Post.” This was later turned
into a pamphlet. George Bernard Shaw, unaware
of the War Propaganda’s Bureau’s secret attacked the quality of
British writing at that time and Bennett was called upon to defend
it.
1915: He toured
the battlefields of the Western Front and was totally shocked by
the conditions he saw there. He was physically ill for many weeks
afterwards. Still he continued his propaganda work and wrote the
pamphlet “Over there: War Scenes on the Western Front” which was
an attempt to encourage new recruits to the British Army.
1918: Lord Beaverbrook,
the new Minister of Information, recruited Bennett and Masterson
to the British War Memorial Committee. It was their task to select
artists to produce paintings, which reflected well on the cause.
1920-30: After the
war Bennett returned to writing novels and also worked as a literary
critic and reviewer. In the “New Age” magazine he used the alias
“Jacob Tonson”.
Written Works:
- 1898: “A Man from the North”
- 1902: “Anna of the Five Towns”. “The
Grand Babylon Hotel.”
- 1908: “The Old Wives Tale”.
- 1912: “Clayhanger”.
- 1911: “Hilda Lessways”.
“The Card”.
- 1912: “Milestones” (Play).
- 1913: “The Great Adventure”
(Play)
- 1916: “These Twain”.
- 1919: “Sacred and Profane Love”.
- 1923: “Riceyman Steps”.
- 1930: “Imperial Palace”.
- 1926: “Lord Raingo”. (Political
novel).
- 1932: “Journals”.
Marriage:
1907: 5th July. To Marguerite Soulie at the Mairie
of the 9th Arrondissement, Paris. Formally separated
23rd November 1921. Had a daughter later by his former
secretary and lover Dorothy Cheston.
Places of Interest:
STAFFORDSHIRE:
Hanley and Stoke-on-Trent.
Date and Place of Death:
27th March 1931, London, England.
Age at Death:
63.
Site of Grave:
Cremated at Golders Green Crematorium and ashes
interred in Burslem Cemetery, Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire,
England.
