|
|
1862-1938
Poet. Henry John Newbolt was born in Bilston, Staffordshire. His father was vicar of St. Mary's Church but died when Henry was four years old. The family then moved to Walsall where Mrs. Newbolt's parents lived. At the age of ten, Henry was sent to a boarding school in Lincolnshire and from there won a scholarship to Clifton College, Bristol, recalled in his Clifton chapel and other school poems (1908). Following Oxford, Corpus Christi College, he began a legal career, practising at the Chancery Bar from 1887-1889. Following his marriage he moved increasingly in literary circles and counted Mary Coleridge and Robert Bridges among his friends. He was knighted in 1915 and awarded the Companion of Honour in 1922.
Henry Newbolt is probably best remembered for his sea songs, Admirals All (1897) which was an immediate success on publication, selling over twenty thousand copies in the first year. It contains Drake's drum (dated December 5th, 1895) which is typical of his patriotic style, often with naval and English West Country settings:-
Drake he was a Devon man, an' ruled the Devon seas.
His first novel to be published was Taken from the Enemy (1892), followed by Mordred; a tragedy (1895). He also wrote short stories and a naval history.
The following works are available in the West Midlands Creative Literature Collection:-
Book of the Grenvilles
Selected poems of Henry Newbolt (1981), edited and with an
introduction by Patric Dickinson
Other works:-
My world as in my time (1932) [autobiography]
The naval history of the Great War (1920)
Poets Corner has a selection of verses by Sir Henry Newbolt.
Page created 9 February 2001 and last
updated 9 August 2005
For your literary enquiries and comments please see the Who to contact page.
Please read the general terms and conditions and about accessibility on this site, including the use of the UK government accesskeys system. Further details on ICRA labelling, visitor counts and EnrichUK may be obtained by following these external links:-
|
|