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W.S. Symonds

1818-1887

Profile

Portrait of W.S. Symonds William Samuel Symonds was born in Hereford and was educated at Cheltenham and Christ's College, Cambridge. In 1843 he became curate of Offenham, near Evesham, and two years later Rector of Pendock, Worcestershire. In 1840 he married Hyacinth Kent from Upton upon Severn. William Symonds developed a passion for nature and natural sciences and was a member of many local natural history and archaeological clubs, such as the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club and the Malvern Naturalists' Field Club. Many essays and books on the geology of the area were published as a result, including Notes on the geology of Herefordshire (1865). His principal work was Records of the Rocks (1872). In 1877 he gave up the living at Pendock but continued to write. He died at Cheltenham on the 15th of September 1887. Throughout his life he amassed a large collection of fossils, including Pleistocene mammals from King Arthur's Cave on the Great Doward. These were given to Gloucester Museum, while other fossils were donated to the museums in Worcester and Hereford.

The fame of W.S. Symonds will not rest solely on his contribution to the natural sciences. He is also the author of two historical novels which were written with the expressed desire "of interesting the inhabitants of the neighbourhood, in which I have resided..., in local history and traditions which had become, like the Dodo, well nigh extinct". Malvern Chase (1881) is a medieval romance set in one of the turbulent periods of English history, the Wars of the Roses, which lasted from 1455 to 1485 when the House of Lancaster was pitched against the House of York. The book proved to be an instant success with the reading public who were struck not only by the quality of the writing but with the vivid descriptions of this picturesque area of England. The author enthusiastically researched his subject and this shows in the pertinent detail which brings the story to life.

Two years later he followed a similar winning formula with Hanley Castle (1883), this time using the English Civil War of the mid-seventeenth century as a backdrop. Once again there is some nice detail about the area, starting with a brief look back to the Romans with the siting of their camp at Upton-upon-Severn and thereafter the growth of a Saxon settlement nearby at Hanley.

We left Worcester at night; a bright moon shone upon the yellow gorse and fine old trees around Madresfield as we crossed the old hills, the waters of the Severn glistened in the moonlight on our left, and the Malverns loomed darkly on our right, while nightingales trilled in every grove. As we rode on the sun arose, the sky-lark soared on high, and the peasants appeared at their cottage door in Hanley village as we reached the green slope above the moats of the Castle...

Hanley Castle, Chapter 17

Works

Selected books by the author

Stones of the Valley (1857)
Old Bones, or Notes for Young Naturalists (1859)
Notes on the geology of Herefordshire (1865)
Records of the Rocks (1872)
Malvern Chase (1881)
Hanley Castle; an episode of the Civil Wars and the Battle of Worcester (1883)

E-texts

A sample chapter and the complete text of the following are available on this website:

Page created 9 February 2001 and last updated 12 March 2008
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