Maurice Henry Hewlett (1861 – 15 June 1923) was an English historical novelist, poet and essayist.

Biography

He was born at

Weybridge Weybridge () is a town in the Borough of Elmbridge in Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. The settlement is recorded as ''Waigebrugge'' and ''Weibrugge'' in the 7th century and the name derives from a crossing point of the ...

, the eldest son of Henry Gay Hewlett, of Shaw Hall, Addington, Kent. He was educated at the

London International College The London International College in London was an early attempt at international education, operating from 1867 to 1889. It enrolled secondary-school students from a number of countries in a programme aimed at fostering internationalist sentim ...

, Spring Grove,

Isleworth Isleworth ( ) is a town located within the London Borough of Hounslow in West London, England. It lies immediately east of the town of Hounslow and west of the River Thames and its tributary the River Crane. Isleworth's original area of se ...

, and was called to the bar in 1891. He gave up the law after the success of ''The Forest Lovers''. From 1896 to 1901 he was Keeper of Lands, Revenues, Records and Enrolments, a government post as adviser on matters of medieval law. Hewlett married Hilda Beatrice Herbert on 3 January 1888 in

St Peter's Church, Vauxhall St Peter's, Vauxhall, is a Church of England church on Kennington Lane, Vauxhall, London SE11. The church was planned in 1860 by John Loughborough Pearson, and built in 1863-4 together with schools, orphanage and vicarage, and is one only a few ...

, where her father was the incumbent vicar. The couple had two children, a daughter, Pia, and a son, Francis, but separated in 1914, partly due to Hilda's increasing interest in aviation. In 1911, Hilda had become the first woman in the UK to gain a pilot's licence. He settled at

Broad Chalke Broad Chalke, sometimes spelled Broadchalke, Broad Chalk or Broadchalk, is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about west of the city of Salisbury. The civil parish includes the hamlets of Knapp, Mount Sorrel and Stoke Farthing. ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

. His friends included

Evelyn Underhill Evelyn Underhill (6 December 1875 – 15 June 1941) was an English Anglo-Catholic writer and pacifist known for her numerous works on religion and spiritual practice, in particular Christian mysticism. Her best-known is ''Mysticism'', published ...

, and

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an expatriate American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Fascism, fascist collaborator in Italy during World War II. His works ...

, whom he met at the

Poets' Club The Poets' Club was a group devoted to the discussion of poetry. It met in London in the early years of the twentieth century. It was founded by Henry Simpson, a banker. T. E. Hulme helped set up the group in 1908, and was its first secretary. ...

in London. He was also a friend of

J. M. Barrie Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succ ...

, who named one of the pirates in ''

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...

'' "Cecco" after Hewlett's son. Hewlett's 1900 novel ''The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay'', about

Richard the Lionheart Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was overl ...

, was a favourite novel of T. E. Lawrence. Lawrence said he had read ''The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay'' several times. Another of Hewlett's historical novels was ''The Queen's Quair'' (1904), about

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of S ...

. ''The Queen's Quair'' was cited as an influence by

Ford Madox Ford Ford Madox Ford (né Joseph Leopold Ford Hermann Madox Hueffer ( ); 17 December 1873 – 26 June 1939) was an English novelist, poet, critic and editor whose journals '' The English Review'' and ''The Transatlantic Review'' were instrumental in ...

, who said that ''The Queen's Quair'' "taught me a good deal". Hewlett also wrote six novels based on the Icelandic Family sagas, these include ''The Light Heart'' and ''Thorgils of Treadholt''. Hewlett also wrote ''The Outlaw'' (based on '' Gisli's Saga''), ''A Lover's Tale'' (based on '' Kormak's Saga''), ''Frey and His Wife'' (based on Ogmund Dytt's tale), and ''Gudred the Fair'' (based on the '' Greenland sagas''). Hewlett was parodied by

Max Beerbohm Sir Henry Maximilian Beerbohm (24 August 1872 – 20 May 1956) was an English essayist, Parody, parodist and Caricature, caricaturist under the signature Max. He first became known in the 1890s as a dandy and a humorist. He was the drama critic ...

in '' A Christmas Garland'' in the part titled "Fond Hearts Askew". Maurice Hewlett died in London on 15 June 1923 at age 62.

Works

*''Earthwork Out of Tuscany'' (1895) travel *''The Masque of Dead Florentines'' (1895) verse *''Songs and Meditations'' (1897) *''The Forest Lovers'' (1898) historical novel *''Pan and the Young Shepherd'' (1898) play *''Youngest of the Angels'' (1898) play *''Little Novels of Italy'' (1899) short stories *''The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay'' (1900) (AKA ''Richard Yea-and-Nay'') historical novel *''The New Canterbury Tales'' (1901) *''The Queen's Quair or The Six Years' Tragedy'' (1904) historical novel about

*''The Road in Tuscany. A Commentary'' (1904) travel; illustrations by

Joseph Pennell Joseph Pennell (July 4, 1857 – April 23, 1926) was an American draftsman, etcher, lithographer and illustrator for books and magazines. A prolific artist, he spent most of his working life in Europe, and is known for his interest in landmarks, l ...

*''Fond Adventures: Tales of the Youth of the World'' (1905) short stories *''Buondelomente's Saga'' (1905) historical novel *''The Fool Errant'' (1905) historical novel *''The Heart's Key'' (1905) historical novel *''The Love Chase'' (1905) historical novel *''The Stooping Lady'' (1907) historical novel *''The Spanish Jade'' (1908) historical novel set in Spain in 1860.Sutherland, Brice, ''Maurice Hewlett: A Bibliography''. Boston : F.W. Faxon Company, 1935. (p. 7) *''Artemision'' (1909) poems *''Halfway House'' (1908) novel *''Open Country'' (1909) novel *''Rest Harrow'' (1910) novel *''Letters to Sanchia'' (1910) *''The Agonists, a Trilogy of God and Man'' (1911) *''The Song of Renny'' (1911) *''Brazenhead the Great'' (1911) *''The Countess of Picpus'' (1911) historical novel *''Mrs. Lancelot: A Comedy of Assumptions'' (1912) historical novel *''The Lore of Proserpine'' (1913) autobiographical account *''Bendish'' (1913) historical novel *''For Two Voices'' (1914) Poem *''The Little Iliad'' (1915) *''A Lover's Tale'' (1915) historical novel *''The Song of the Plow'' (1916) *''Frey and his Wife'' (1916) *''Gudrid the Fair'' (1918) historical novel *''Thorgils of Treadholt'' (1917) historical novel *''The Village Wife’s Lament'' (1918) poems *''In Green Shade'' (1920) *''Mainwaring'' (1920) historical novel *''The Light Heart'' (1920) historical novel *''Outlaw'' (1920) historical novel *''Wiltshire Essays'' (1921) *''Extemporary Essays'' (1922) *''The Last Essays of Maurice Hewlett'' (1924) *''The Letters of Maurice Hewlett'' (1926) edited by

Laurence Binyon Robert Laurence Binyon, CH (10 August 1869 – 10 March 1943) was an English poet, dramatist and art scholar. Born in Lancaster, England, his parents were Frederick Binyon, a clergyman, and Mary Dockray. He studied at St Paul's School, London ...

Filmography

*'' The Spanish Jade'' (1915) *'' The Spanish Jade'' (1922) *''

Open Country "Open Country" is a designation used for some UK access land. It was first defined under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 (and extended by the Countryside Act 1968), and was land over which an appropriate access agree ...

'' (1922)

Notes

References

*''Maurice Hewlett: A Sketch of His Career and Some Reviews of His Books'', by

James Lane Allen James Lane Allen (December 21, 1849 – February 18, 1925) was an American novelist and short story writer whose work, including the novel '' A Kentucky Cardinal'', often depicted the culture and dialects of his native Kentucky. His work is char ...

*''A bibliography of the first editions of books by Maurice Henry Hewlett (1861–1923)'' (1973) Percival Horace Muir * This list omits some significant works. He wrote six novels based on the Icelandic Family sagas, of which only ''The Light Heart'' and ''Thorgils of Treadholt'' are mentioned above. There is also ''The Outlaw'' (based on '' Gisli's Saga''), ''A Lover's Tale'' (based on '' Kormak's Saga''), ''Frey and His Wife'' (based on Ogmund Dytt's tale), and ''Gudred the Fair'' (based on the '' Greenland sagas'').

External links

Maurice Hewlett Collection
at the

Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center (until 1983 the Humanities Research Center) is an archive, library and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe for the pur ...

Maurice Hewlett Collection
at the

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library () is the rare book library and literary archive of the Yale University Library in New Haven, Connecticut. It is one of the largest buildings in the world dedicated to rare books and manuscripts. Es ...

* * * *
Works by Maurice Hewlett
at

Hathi Trust HathiTrust Digital Library is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries including content digitized via Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digitized locally ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hewlett, Maurice 1861 births 1923 deaths English male poets 19th-century English novelists 20th-century English novelists English historical novelists English essayists British male essayists English male novelists 19th-century English male writers 19th-century essayists 20th-century essayists 20th-century English male writers English male non-fiction writers Writers of historical fiction set in the Middle Ages Writers of historical fiction set in the early modern period Writers of historical fiction set in the modern age