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1865-1959
Novelist and dramatist. Laurence Housman was born on 18th July, 1865, at Bromsgrove, Worcestershire. His father was a solicitor and Laurence was the sixth of seven children. His elder brother Alfred, known to the world as the poet A. E. Housman, was six years his senior. Laurence was educated locally until the age of eighteen when he went with his sister, Clemence, to study art in London. His first work was as a book illustrator with London publishers. Finding it difficult to make a living he turned more and more to writing and several volumes of poetry appeared in the 1890's.
The novel An Englishwomen's love-letters (1900) was his first success but was published anonymously. He then turned to drama with Bethlehem (1902). Time and again he found himself at odds with the accepted standards of the day, which dictated that biblical characters and members of the Royal family could not be depicted on the stage. Many of Laurence Housman plays therefore first appeared at private theatre clubs before subsequent lifting of censorship restrictions.
A prolific writer, with over a hundred published works, he covered a wide range of subjects and forms including poetry, novels, plays, non-fiction (covering socialism, feminism and pacifism) and stories for children. His poetry are considered to be rather derivative and he is probably best remembered now for his series of plays The little plays of St. Francis (1922) and Victoria Regina (1934).
For the last thirty-five years of his life Laurence Housman lived at Street in Somerset with Clemence. There is a special collection of books, letters, drawings and other items associated with Laurence Housman at Street Library. Laurence Housman's autobiography, The unexpected years, was published in 1937.
The following works are available in the West Midlands Creative Literature Collection:-
A.E.H.
Alfred Edward Housman's 'De amicitia'
All-fellows (1896)
Back words and fore words
Bethlehem, the pageant of our lady, and other poems
(1902)
The blue moon (1904) [Short stories for children]
The death of Socrates (1925)
Dethronements (1922) [Short stories]
Family honour (1950)
Four plays of St. Clare
Gracious majesty (1941)
Happy and glorious: a dramatic biography
The little plays of St Francis (1922)
New child's guide to knowledge
The new hangman (1930)
Pains and penalties: the defence of Queen Caroline
(1911)
Palace plays (1930)
Religious advance towards rationalism
Sabrina Warham (1904)
Samuel, the king-maker (1944)
The sheepfold (1918) [For children]
Strange ends and discoveries (1948) [Short stories]
Trimblerigg, a book of revelation (1924)
Uncle Tom Pudd (1927) [For children]
Page created 9 February 2001 and last
updated 1 December 2003
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