Mary Gladys Webb (25 March 1881 – 8 October 1927) was an English
romance novelist and poet of the early 20th century, whose work is set chiefly in the
Shropshire
Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...
countryside and among Shropshire characters and people whom she knew. Her novels have been successfully dramatized, most notably the film ''
Gone to Earth'' in 1950 by
Michael Powell and
Emeric Pressburger based on the
novel of the same title. The novels are thought to have inspired the famous parody ''
Cold Comfort Farm
''Cold Comfort Farm'' is a comic novel by English author Stella Gibbons, published in 1932. It parodies the romanticised, sometimes doom-laden accounts of rural life popular at the time, by writers such as Mary Webb.
Plot summary
Following ...
'' (1932) by
Stella Gibbons
Stella Dorothea Gibbons (5 January 1902 – 19 December 1989) was an English writer, journalist, and poet. She established her reputation with her first novel, ''Cold Comfort Farm'' (1932) which has been reprinted many times. Although she ...
.
Life
She was born Mary Gladys Meredith in 1881 at Leighton Lodge in the
Shropshire
Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...
village of
Leighton, where she was baptised at
St Mary's parish church,
8 miles (13 km) southeast of
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...
. Her father, George Edward Meredith, a private schoolteacher,
inspired his daughter with his own love of literature and the local countryside. Her mother Sarah Alice was descended from a family related to
Sir Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy ...
. Mary explored the countryside around her childhood home, and developed a sense of detailed observation and description, of both people and places, which later infused her poetry and prose.
At the age of one year, she moved with her parents to
Much Wenlock
Much Wenlock is a market town and parish in Shropshire, England, situated on the A458 road between Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth. Nearby, to the northeast, is the Ironbridge Gorge, and the new town of Telford. The civil parish includes the villa ...
, where they lived at a house called The Grange outside the town. Mary was taught by her father, then sent to a
finishing school
A finishing school focuses on teaching young women social graces and upper-class cultural rites as a preparation for entry into society. The name reflects that it follows on from ordinary school and is intended to complete the education, wi ...
for girls at
Southport in 1895.
Her parents moved the family again in Shropshire, north to
Stanton upon Hine Heath
Stanton upon Hine Heath is a village and parish in Shropshire, England. The River Roden flows through the village.
Author Mary Webb (1881–1927) lived with her parents in Stanton from 1896 to 1902, at house then called The Woodlands, later ...
in 1896, before settling in 1902 at
Meole Brace, now on the outskirts of
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...
.
At the age of 20, she developed symptoms of
Graves' disease
Graves' disease (german: Morbus Basedow), also known as toxic diffuse goiter, is an autoimmune disease that affects the thyroid. It frequently results in and is the most common cause of hyperthyroidism. It also often results in an enlarged thyro ...
, a
thyroid
The thyroid, or thyroid gland, is an endocrine gland in vertebrates. In humans it is in the neck and consists of two connected lobes. The lower two thirds of the lobes are connected by a thin band of tissue called the thyroid isthmus. The ...
disorder that resulted in bulging protuberant eyes and throat
goitre. It caused ill health throughout her life and probably contributed to her early death. This affliction resulted in her being empathic with the suffering. She is considered to have created a fictional counterpart in the disfiguring
harelip of Prue Sarn, the heroine of ''
Precious Bane
''Precious Bane'' is a historical romance by Mary Webb, first published in 1924. It won the Prix Femina Vie Heureuse Prize in 1926.
Synopsis
The story is set in rural Shropshire during the Napoleonic Wars. It is narrated by the central charac ...
''.
Webb's first published writing was a five-verse poem, written on hearing news of the
Shrewsbury rail accident
The Shrewsbury rail accident occurred on 15 October 1907. An overnight sleeping-car and mail train from Manchester to the West of England derailed on the sharply curved approach to Shrewsbury station, killing 18 people and injuring 33. The acc ...
in October 1907. Her brother, Kenneth Meredith, so liked the poem and thought it potentially comforting for those affected by the disaster that, without her knowledge, he took it to the newspaper offices of the ''
Shrewsbury Chronicle
The ''Shrewsbury Chronicle'' is a local news newspaper in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. It is one of the oldest weekly newspapers in the United Kingdom, publishing its first edition in 1772.
It is printed on Wednesday evening and is on sal ...
'', which printed the poem anonymously. Mary, who usually burnt her early poems, was appalled before learning that the newspaper had received appreciative letters from its readers.
On 12 June 1912, Webb married Henry Bertram Law Webb (1885-1939), a teacher, at Meole Brace's Holy Trinity parish church. At first he supported her literary interests. They lived for a time in
Weston-super-Mare, before moving back to Mary's beloved Shropshire, where they worked as
market gardener
A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. The diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically from under to so ...
s until Henry secured a job as a teacher, first at
Chester
Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
, then at the
Priory Grammar School for Boys in Shrewsbury.
The couple lived briefly in Rose Cottage in Hinton Lane and then at The Nills in the village of
Pontesbury
Pontesbury is a village and civil parish in Shropshire and is approximately eight miles southwest of Shrewsbury. In the 2011 census, the village had a population of 1,873 and the parish had a population of 3,227. The village of Minsterley is ju ...
between the years 1914 and 1916, during which time she wrote ''The Golden Arrow''. Her time in the village is celebrated by the eponymously named ''Mary Webb School''.
The publication of ''The Golden Arrow'' in 1917 enabled them to move to
Lyth Hill,
Bayston Hill
Bayston Hill is a large village and civil parish in central Shropshire, England. It is south of the county town Shrewsbury and located on the main A49 road, the Shrewsbury to Hereford road.
Occupied continuously since before the Middle Ages ...
, a place she loved, where they bought a plot of land and built Spring Cottage.
In 1921, they bought a second property in London, in the hope that by being in the city, she could achieve greater literary recognition. This, however, did not happen, although she won the
Prix Femina Vie Heureuse for ''Precious Bane'' in 1926. By 1927, she was suffering increasingly bad health, her marriage was failing, and she returned to Spring Cottage alone. She died at
St Leonards-on-Sea
St Leonards-on-Sea (commonly known as St Leonards) is a town and seaside resort in the Borough of Hastings in East Sussex, England. It has been part of the borough since the late 19th century and lies to the west of central Hastings. The origi ...
, aged 46. She was buried in Shrewsbury, at the General Cemetery in Longden Road.
Legacy
Her writing in general was reviewed as notable for poetic descriptions of nature. Another aspect throughout her work was a close and fatalistic view on human psychology.
After her death, Prime Minister
Stanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, (3 August 186714 December 1947) was a British Conservative Party politician who dominated the government of the United Kingdom between the world wars, serving as prime minister on three occasions, ...
brought about her commercial success when, at a dinner of the
Royal Literary Fund The Royal Literary Fund (RLF) is a benevolent fund that gives assistance to published British writers in financial difficulties. Founded in 1790, and granted a royal charter in 1818, the Fund has helped an extensive roll of authors through its long ...
in 1928, he referred to her as a neglected genius. Consequently her collected works were republished in a standard edition by
Jonathan Cape
Jonathan Cape is a London publishing firm founded in 1921 by Herbert Jonathan Cape, who was head of the firm until his death in 1960.
Cape and his business partner Wren Howard set up the publishing house in 1921. They established a reputation ...
, becoming best sellers in the 1930s and running into many editions.
Stella Gibbons
Stella Dorothea Gibbons (5 January 1902 – 19 December 1989) was an English writer, journalist, and poet. She established her reputation with her first novel, ''Cold Comfort Farm'' (1932) which has been reprinted many times. Although she ...
's 1932 novel ''
Cold Comfort Farm
''Cold Comfort Farm'' is a comic novel by English author Stella Gibbons, published in 1932. It parodies the romanticised, sometimes doom-laden accounts of rural life popular at the time, by writers such as Mary Webb.
Plot summary
Following ...
'' was a parody of Webb's work, as well as of other "loam and lovechild" writers like
Sheila Kaye-Smith and
Mary E. Mann[Hammill, Faye ''Cold Comfort Farm, D. H. Lawrence, and English Literary Culture Between the Wars'', Modern Fiction Studies 47.4 (2001) 831-854] and, further back,
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Wor ...
. In a 1966 ''
Punch
Punch commonly refers to:
* Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist
* Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice
Punch may also refer to:
Places
* Pu ...
'' article, Gibbons observed:
The large agonised faces in Mary Webb's book annoyed me ... I did not believe people were any more despairing in Herefordshire '' ic' than in Camden Town
Camden Town (), often shortened to Camden, is a district of northwest London, England, north of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Camden, and identified in the London Plan as ...
.
Literary critic
John Sutherland refers to the genre as the "soil and gloom romance" and credits Webb as its pioneer.
The museum at the Tourist Information Centre in
Much Wenlock
Much Wenlock is a market town and parish in Shropshire, England, situated on the A458 road between Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth. Nearby, to the northeast, is the Ironbridge Gorge, and the new town of Telford. The civil parish includes the villa ...
includes much information on Mary Webb, including a display of photographs of the
filming of her novel ''Gone to Earth'' in 1950.
Her cottage on Lyth Hill (not open to the public) can still be seen. In September 2013, plans were submitted for its demolition.
Three of Webb's novels have been reprinted by
Virago Press
Virago is a British publisher of women's writing and books on feminist topics. Started and run by women in the 1970s and bolstered by the success of the Women's Liberation Movement (WLM), Virago has been credited as one of several British femini ...
.
Bibliography
* ''The Golden Arrow'' (July 1916). London : Constable.
* ''
Gone to Earth'' (September 1917). London : Constable.
* ''The Spring of Joy; a little book of healing'' (October 1917). London :
J. M. Dent
Joseph Malaby Dent (30 August 1849 – 9 May 1926) was a British book publisher who produced the Everyman's Library series.
Early life
Dent was born in Darlington in what is now part of the Grade II listed Britannia Inn. After a short and ...
.
* ''
The House in Dormer Forest
''The House in Dormer Forest'' is a 1920 romance novel by the British writer Mary Webb. It was part of a wave of regional novels set across Britain, in Webb's case in her native Shropshire.Baldick p.18 She wrote it while living at her home near ...
'' (July 1920). London :
Hutchinson.
* ''
Seven for a Secret'' (October 1922). London : Hutchinson.
* ''
Precious Bane
''Precious Bane'' is a historical romance by Mary Webb, first published in 1924. It won the Prix Femina Vie Heureuse Prize in 1926.
Synopsis
The story is set in rural Shropshire during the Napoleonic Wars. It is narrated by the central charac ...
'' (July 1924). London :
Jonathan Cape
Jonathan Cape is a London publishing firm founded in 1921 by Herbert Jonathan Cape, who was head of the firm until his death in 1960.
Cape and his business partner Wren Howard set up the publishing house in 1921. They established a reputation ...
.
* ''Poems and the Spring of Joy (Essays and Poems)'' (1928). London : Jonathan Cape.
* ''Armour Wherein He Trusted: A Novel and Some Stories'' (1929). London : Jonathan Cape.
* ''A Mary Webb Anthology'' edited by Henry B.L. Webb (1939). London : Jonathan Cape.
* ''Fifty-One Poems'' (1946). London : Jonathan Cape. With wood engravings by
Joan Hassall
* ''The Essential Mary Webb'' edited by
Martin Armstrong (1949). London : Jonathan Cape.
* ''Mary Webb: Collected Prose and Poems'' edited by Gladys Mary Coles (1977). Shrewsbury : Wildings.
* ''Selected Poems of Mary Webb'' edited by Gladys Mary Coles (1981). Wirral : Headland
Biographies
* ''The Shropshire of Mary Webb'' by W. Reid. Chappell (1930). London : Cecil Palmer
* ''The Shropshire Haunts of Mary Webb'' by W. Byford-Jones (1948). Shrewsbury : Wilding and Son
* ''The Flower of Light: A Biography of Mary Webb'' by Gladys Mary Coles (1978). London :
Duckworth & Co Ltd); (1998). Wirral : Headland Publications
* ''Mary Webb: A Narrative Bibliography of Her Life and Work'' by Gordon Dickins (1981). – : –
* ''Daughters and Lovers: The Life and Writing of Mary Webb'' by Michèle Aina Barale (1986). Connecticut :
Wesleyan University Press
* ''Mary Webb Country: An Introduction to Her Life and Work'' by Linda Davies (1990). Wirral : Palmers Press
* ''Best Day of My Life: Mary Meredith (Young Mary Webb) at Much Wenlock'' by Kenneth Milner (1999). – : Dormer
* ''Lullingford: Mary Webb's Much Wenlock'' by Kenneth Milner (2004). – : –
Adaptations
'' Gone to Earth''
*Adapted in a
1950 film by
Michael Powell and
Emeric Pressburger, starring
Jennifer Jones
Jennifer Jones (born Phylis Lee Isley; March 2, 1919 – December 17, 2009), also known as Jennifer Jones Simon, was an American actress and mental health advocate. Over the course of her career that spanned over five decades, she was nominated ...
as Hazel Woodus. It was later re-edited, shortened and retitled for its American release, and fell into relative obscurity. In 1985, the full 110-minute restored version was released by the
National Film Archive, to critical acclaim.
*Adapted in a 2004 play by
Helen Edmundson
Helen Edmundson (born 1964) is a British playwright, screenwriter and producer. She has won awards and critical acclaim both for her original writing and for her adaptations of various literary classics for the stage and screen.
Early life
E ...
, which was produced by Shared Experience at the
Lyric Hammersmith and on tour; Edmundson was subsequently nominated for a
TMA Award
The UK Theatre Awards, established in 1991 and known before 2011 as the TMA Awards, are presented annually by UK Theatre (formerly the Theatrical Management Association) in recognition of creative excellence and outstanding work in regional theat ...
.
''
Precious Bane
''Precious Bane'' is a historical romance by Mary Webb, first published in 1924. It won the Prix Femina Vie Heureuse Prize in 1926.
Synopsis
The story is set in rural Shropshire during the Napoleonic Wars. It is narrated by the central charac ...
''
*Adapted in a six-part
BBC television drama series in 1957, starring
Patrick Troughton
Patrick George Troughton (; 25 March 1920 – 28 March 1987) was an English actor who was classically trained for the stage but became known for his roles in television and film. His work included appearances in several fantasy, science fiction ...
and
Daphne Slater
Daphne Helen Slater (3 March 1928 – 4 October 2012) was an English actress noted for Shakespearean and period films.
Biography
She was born in London and educated at Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls, when it was in Acton, before attendi ...
.
*Adapted for French television (
ORTF) in 1968 by director
Claude Santelli
Claude Santelli (17 June 1923 – 14 December 2001) was a French film director and screenwriter. He directed 25 films between 1968 and 1996.
Selected filmography
* '' Histoire vraie'' (1973)
* '' Madame Baptiste'' (1974)
References
Ext ...
, with
Dominique Labourier
Dominique Labourier (born 29 April 1943) is a French actress. Born in Reims, France, she is best known outside France for starring as Julie in Jacques Rivette's film ''Celine and Julie Go Boating'' (''Céline et Julie vont en bateau'', 1974). S ...
as Prue,
Josep Maria Flotats as Gedeon and
Pierre Vaneck
Pierre Vaneck (born Pierre Auguste Van Hecke; 15 April 1931 – 31 January 2010) was a French actor. During his career, he won a Molière Award in 1988 and received a César Award nomination in 2009.
Biography
Son of a Belgian army officer, Pie ...
as Kester. The title was ''Sarn'', after the French title of the novel.
*Adapted as a television play by the
BBC in 1989, with
Janet McTeer as Prue,
Clive Owen
Clive Owen (born 3 October 1964) is an English actor. He first gained recognition in the United Kingdom for playing the lead role in the ITV series ''Chancer'' from 1990 to 1991. He received critical acclaim for his work in the film '' Close ...
as her brother Gideon, and
John Bowe as Kester.
Memorials
A monumental bust of Mary Webb, commissioned by the Mary Webb Society, was unveiled in the grounds of
Shrewsbury Library on 9 July 2016.
A
blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term ...
to commemorate her birth was unveiled by the Mary Webb Society at Leighton Lodge in March 2022.
[Report by Paul Jenkins.]
References
External links
*
The Mary Webb Society*
*
*
*
- profile and e-texts of all her novels
Mary Webb papersat the
Mortimer Rare Book Collection, Smith College Special Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Webb, Mary
1881 births
1927 deaths
English romantic fiction writers
Writers from Shropshire
Women romantic fiction writers
English women novelists
20th-century English novelists
20th-century English women writers