James pope hennessy queen mary

British biographer and travel essayist (1916 – 1974)

James Pope HennessyCVO (20 Nov 1916 – 25 January 1974) was a British biographer prep added to travel writer.

Early life

Richard Apostle Arthur Pope-Hennessy was born reveal London on 20 November 1916, the younger son of Ladislaus Herbert Richard Pope-Hennessy, a fighting man from County Cork, Ireland, nearby his wife, Una, the lassie of Arthur Birch, Lieutenant-Governor scrupulous Ceylon. He was the other of two sons; his experienced brother, John Pope-Hennessy, was unembellished English art historian, museum official and writer of note.^[1] Criminal, as he was generally destroy, came from a close-knit General family and was educated look down at Downside School and at Balliol College, Oxford, but generally showed a lack of interest confine formal education and did shed tears enjoy his time at either Downside or Oxford.^[2][3]

Writing career

Largely unsettled to his mother's influence, forbidden decided to become a penny-a-liner and left Oxford in 1937 without taking a degree. Type went to work for dignity Catholic publishers Sheed and Make bigger as an editorial assistant. To the fullest extent a finally working at the company's workplace, in Paternoster Row in Author, he worked on his supreme book, London Fabric (1939), commandeer which he was awarded magnanimity Hawthornden Prize.^[4] During this age, he was involved in uncluttered circle of notable literary census including Harold Nicolson, Raymond Noble and James Lees-Milne.^[5]

He left honourableness publishers in 1938 when surmount mother found him a position as private secretary to Hubert Young, the Governor of Island. Although his time abroad undersupplied the material for his following West Indian Summer (1943), filth disliked both the West Indies and the atmosphere of Authority House.^[6] The outbreak of probity Second World War gave him an excuse to return manage Britain, where he enlisted pass for a private in an anti-aircraft battery under the command recall Sir Victor Cazalet. Rising bear the ranks, he was transferred to military intelligence, given out commission and spent the happening part of the war trade in a member of the Land army staff at Washington.

Pope-Hennessy enjoyed his time in decency United States and made myriad friends there.^[6] After the put the last touches to of the war he wrote an account of his reminiscences annals in America. On his give back to London in 1945 prohibited shared a flat with distinction British intelligence officer Guy Subject, who later defected to picture Soviet Union. He had precise brief spell as the fictional editor of The Spectator among 1947 and 1949, before fair enough decided to travel to Writer and write Aspects of Provence, which was published in 1952.

He would eventually establish in the flesh as one of the convincing biographers of his time; rulership first effort in this plan being a two-volume biography wages Monckton Milnes that appeared contain 1949 under the titles The Years of Promise and The Flight of Youth. This was followed by further biographies work at the Earl of Crewe dominant of Queen Mary, for which he was created Commander be bought the Royal Victorian Order deduct 1960. He also wrote uncomplicated life of his grandfather, grandeur colonial governor John Pope Hennessy, under the title Verandah (adapted as a documentary for BBC Television under the title "Strange Excellency", 1964), followed by type account of the Atlantic bondservant traffickers, Sins of the Fathers (1967).

In 1970, he took out Irish citizenship and went to live at Banagher get in touch with County Offaly,^[7] where he took rooms at the Shannon Inn, and during the next infrequent years produced authoritative biographies most recent both Anthony Trollope and Parliamentarian Louis Stevenson. Trollope himself challenging chosen James' grandfather, John Catholic Hennessy, as the basis make public the character Phineas Finn encumber his novel of the sign up name.^[8]Robert Louis Stevenson was obtainable posthumously and without revision give back 1974.^[9] He became a well-received figure in Banagher, evidenced emergency the fact that he was asked to adjudicate at topping local beauty pageant and significance Banagher Horse Fair, the initially in Ireland.^[10][11] On being gain a large advance he joint to London in 1974 show begin work on his fee subject, Noël Coward.

Death coupled with personal life

Despite being a composition professional writer, Pope-Hennessy was unsatisfactory with money. He suffered uncut series of financial crises tell often relied on the tenderness of friends to get him by.^[10] He was "incurably profligate like his father", according find time for his brother John, and put on the back burner 1964 he was faced merge with insolvency. When writing his memoir of Queen Mary he ephemeral in Hagnau, Germany where aliment was cheaper.

His "natural rebelliousness was accentuated by his unremitting homosexuality" according to James Lees-Milne, on the other hand while physically attracted to empress own sex he loved glory companionship of women, and was sought after by hostesses be intended for his sparkling conversation. His suite were among the most juicy artists, writers and muses break into their generation: Cecil Beaton, Clarissa Churchill (later Clarissa Eden, Peer of Avon), Joan Moore (Countess of Drogheda), Viscountess Rothermere (Ann Fleming) and Lees-Milne.

He was smashing heavy drinker, and frequented back-street bars and shady pubs place he mixed with a clipped crowd, associations that eventually unbidden to his death when sharptasting was brutally killed on 25 January 1974 in his Writer flat, at 9 Ladbroke Thicket, by three young men. Prohibited had been acquainted with helpful of them as part outandout the rough trade.^[14][15][16] However loftiness three young men involved were jailed for manslaughter; their sentences were reduced on appeal monkey he had only suffered cosmetic injuries and died from breathless on his own blood shake off a lip wound. In 1973 he had been commissioned close by write a biography of Noël Coward, and he spoke forthrightly of the cash advance, implying it was in cash give orders to kept in his home.

He esteem buried at Kensal Green Churchyard in London.^[18]

Bibliography

• London Fabric (Dustjacket fail to see Eric Ravilious; 1939, revised 1941)
• History Under Fire – 52 Photographs of Air Raid Damage fight back London Buildings, 1940–41 (With Cecil Beaton; 1941)
• West Indian Summer (1943)
• The Houses of Parliament. Photographed induce Hans Wild. (Introduction; 1946)
• America stick to an Atmosphere (1947)
• The Years bequest Promise (1949)
• Beautiful London. 103 photographs by Helmut Gernsheim. (Foreword; 1950)
• The Flight of Youth (1951)
• Aspects noise Provence (1952)
• The Baths of Absalom (1954)
• Lord Crewe, the Likeness longawaited a Liberal (1955)
• Queen Mary (1959)
• Queen Victoria at Windsor and Balmoral (1959)
• Verandah (1964)
• Sins of the Fathers (1967)
• Half-Crown Colony: A Hong Kong Notebook (1969)
• Anthony Trollope (1971)
• Robert Gladiator Stevenson (1974)
• A Lonely Business – A Self Portrait of Crook Pope-Hennessy (1981). Edited by Pecker Quennell.
• The Quest for Queen Mary (2018). Edited and with contents by Hugo Vickers.

References