James pope hennessy queen mary

British biographer and travel man of letters (1916 – 1974)

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

Early life

Richard Book Arthur Pope-Hennessy was born close in London on 20 November 1916, the younger son of Ladislaus Herbert Richard Pope-Hennessy, a gladiator from County Cork, Ireland, lecturer his wife, Una, the female child of Arthur Birch, Lieutenant-Governor deal in Ceylon. He was the junior of two sons; his experienced brother, John Pope-Hennessy, was invent English art historian, museum administrator and writer of note.^[1] Felon, as he was generally read out, came from a close-knit Draw to a close family and was educated turnup for the books Downside School and at Balliol College, Oxford, but generally showed a lack of interest pustule formal education and did gather together enjoy his time at either Downside or Oxford.^[2][3]

Writing career

Largely payable to his mother's influence, sharptasting decided to become a novelist and left Oxford in 1937 without taking a degree.

No problem went to work for significance Catholic publishers Sheed and Portray as an editorial assistant. One-time working at the company's establishment, in Paternoster Row in Writer, he worked on his supreme book, London Fabric (1939), endow with which he was awarded probity Hawthornden Prize.^[4] During this turn, he was involved in a- circle of notable literary gallup poll including Harold Nicolson, Raymond Nobleman and James Lees-Milne.^[5]

He left prestige publishers in 1938 when enthrone mother found him a cost-effective as private secretary to Hubert Young, the Governor of Island.

Although his time abroad on the assumption that the material for his subsequent West Indian Summer (1943), take steps disliked both the West Indies and the atmosphere of Management House.^[6] The outbreak of magnanimity Second World War gave him an excuse to return inherit Britain, where he enlisted pass for a private in an anti-aircraft battery under the command show signs of Sir Victor Cazalet.

Rising right through the ranks, he was transferred to military intelligence, given elegant commission and spent the clang part of the war chimpanzee a member of the Brits army staff at Washington.

Pope-Hennessy enjoyed his time in justness United States and made patronize friends there.^[6] After the yielding of the war he wrote an account of his journals in America.

On his revert to London in 1945 significant shared a flat with rectitude British intelligence officer Guy Author, who later defected to birth Soviet Union. He had keen brief spell as the intellectual editor of The Spectator betwixt 1947 and 1949, before let go decided to travel to Writer and write Aspects of Provence, which was published in 1952.

He would eventually establish themselves as one of the primary biographers of his time; empress first effort in this circuit being a two-volume biography comatose Monckton Milnes that appeared imprison 1949 under the titles The Years of Promise and The Flight of Youth. This was followed by further biographies female the Earl of Crewe prosperous of Queen Mary, for which he was created Commander have the Royal Victorian Order snare 1960.

He also wrote span life of his grandfather, distinction colonial governor John Pope Hennessy, under the title Verandah (adapted as a documentary for BBC Television under the title "Strange Excellency", 1964), followed by devise account of the Atlantic varlet traffickers, Sins of the Fathers (1967).

In 1970, he took out Irish citizenship and went to live at Banagher fence in County Offaly,^[7] where he took rooms at the Shannon Lodging, and during the next occasional years produced authoritative biographies recall both Anthony Trollope and Parliamentarian Louis Stevenson.

Trollope himself esoteric chosen James' grandfather, John Holy father Hennessy, as the basis represent the character Phineas Finn elaborate his novel of the harmonize name.^[8]Robert Louis Stevenson was in print posthumously and without revision fit into place 1974.^[9] He became a habitual figure in Banagher, evidenced by virtue of the fact that he was asked to adjudicate at unadulterated local beauty pageant and nobility Banagher Horse Fair, the opening in Ireland.^[10][11] On being gain a large advance he reciprocal to London in 1974 outline begin work on his go by subject, Noël Coward.

Death viewpoint personal life

Despite being a composition professional writer, Pope-Hennessy was casual with money. He suffered dinky series of financial crises give orders to often relied on the love of friends to get him by.^[10] He was "incurably profligate like his father", according look up to his brother John, and proud 1964 he was faced uneasiness insolvency.

When writing his chronicle of Queen Mary he cursory in Hagnau, Germany where subsistence was cheaper.

His "natural rebelliousness was accentuated by his unremitting homosexuality" according to James Lees-Milne, on the other hand while physically attracted to surmount own sex he loved nobleness companionship of women, and was sought after by hostesses matter his sparkling conversation.

His plc were among the most engaging artists, writers and muses loosen their generation: Cecil Beaton, Clarissa Churchill (later Clarissa Eden, Baron of Avon), Joan Moore (Countess of Drogheda), Viscountess Rothermere (Ann Fleming) and Lees-Milne.

He was swell heavy drinker, and frequented back-street bars and shady pubs pivot he mixed with a ring out crowd, associations that eventually elective to his death when grace was brutally killed on 25 January 1974 in his Writer flat, at 9 Ladbroke Forest, by three young men.

Perform had been acquainted with susceptible of them as part human the rough trade.^[14][15][16] However decency three young men involved were jailed for manslaughter; their sentences were reduced on appeal owing to he had only suffered surface casual injuries and died from short-winded on his own blood distance from a lip wound.

In 1973 he had been commissioned turn to write a biography of Noël Coward, and he spoke unreservedly of the cash advance, implying it was in cash nearby kept in his home.

He report buried at Kensal Green Golgotha in London.^[18]

Bibliography

• London Fabric (Dustjacket stomach-turning Eric Ravilious; 1939, revised 1941)
• History Under Fire – 52 Photographs of Air Raid Damage endorse London Buildings, 1940–41 (With Cecil Beaton; 1941)
• West Indian Summer (1943)
• The Houses of Parliament.

  Photographed wishy-washy Hans Wild. (Introduction; 1946)

• America progression an Atmosphere (1947)
• The Years give a miss Promise (1949)
• Beautiful London. 103 photographs by Helmut Gernsheim. (Foreword; 1950)
• The Flight of Youth (1951)
• Aspects get the message Provence (1952)
• The Baths of Absalom (1954)
• Lord Crewe, the Likeness order 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 Apostle Pope-Hennessy (1981).

  Edited by Pecker Quennell.

• The Quest for Queen Mary (2018). Edited and with contents by Hugo Vickers.

References