Peter Berresford Ellis (born 10 March 1943) is a British

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

literary biographer When studying literature, biography and its relationship to literature is often a subject of literary criticism, and is treated in several different forms. Two scholarly approaches use biography or biographical approaches to the past as a tool for ...

, and

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...

who has published over 98 books to date either under his own name or his pseudonyms Peter Tremayne and Peter MacAlan. He has also published 100 short stories. Under Peter Tremayne, he is the author of the international bestselling ''

Sister Fidelma The Sister Fidelma mysteries are a series of historical mystery novels and short stories by Peter Tremayne (pseudonym of Peter Berresford Ellis) about a fictional detective who is the eponymous heroine of a series. Fidelma is both a ''dalaigh'' ( ...

historical mystery The historical mystery or historical whodunit is a subgenre of two literary genres, historical fiction and mystery fiction. These works are set in a time period considered historical from the author's perspective, and the central plot involves th ...

series. His work has appeared in 25 languages.

Early life

Peter Berresford Ellis was born in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

. His father, Alan Ellis, was a Cork-born

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

who started his career with ''

The Cork Examiner The ''Irish Examiner'', formerly ''The Cork Examiner'' and then ''The Examiner'', is an Irish national daily newspaper which primarily circulates in the Munster region surrounding its base in Cork, though it is available throughout the country. ...

''. The Ellis family can be traced in the area from 1288. His mother was from an old Sussex family of Saxon origin that traces its lineage back through 14 generations in the same area. Her mother was of

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

descent. Educated at

Brighton College of Art Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

and the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

, Ellis graduated from North East London Polytechnic (now part of the

University of East London , mottoeng = Knowledge and the fulfilment of vows , established = 1898 – West Ham Technical Institute1952 – West Ham College of Technology1970 – North East London Polytechnic1989 – Polytechnic of East London ...

) in Celtic Studies in 1989. He also earned a master's degree in Celtic Studies from the University of East London (1993).

Work and writing career

He began his career as a junior reporter on an English south coast weekly, becoming deputy editor of an Irish weekly newspaper and was then editor of a weekly publishing

trade journal A trade magazine, also called a trade journal or trade paper (colloquially or disparagingly a trade rag), is a magazine or newspaper whose target audience is people who work in a particular trade or industry. The collective term for this ...

in London. He first went as a feature writer to Northern Ireland in 1964 for a London daily newspaper. His first book was published in 1968: ''Wales: a Nation Again'', on the Welsh struggle for political independence, with a foreword by

Gwynfor Evans Gwynfor Richard Evans (1 September 1912 – 21 April 2005) was a Welsh politician, lawyer and author. He was President of the Welsh political party Plaid Cymru for thirty-six years and was the first Member of Parliament to represent it at Westmi ...

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom. Plaid wa ...

's first MP. In 1975 he became a full-time writer. He used his academic background to produce many titles in the field of Celtic Studies and he has written academic articles and papers in the field for journals ranging from ''The Linguist'' (London) to '' The Irish Sword: Journal of the Irish Military History Society'' (

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...

). In 1999 ''

The Times Higher Education Supplement ''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The Thes''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education. Ownership TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...

'' described him as one of the leading authorities on the Celts then writing. He has been International Chairman of the

Celtic League The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organisation, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places part ...

(1988–90); chairman of Scrif-Celt (The Celtic Languages Book Fair (1985–86); chairman and vice-president of the London Association for Celtic Education (1989–95), of which he is an Honorary Life Member. He was also chairman of his local ward Labour Party in London and was editorial advisor on ''Labour and Ireland'' magazine in the early 1990s. He is an honorary life member of the Connolly Association (founded 1938) to examine and promote the life and teachings of

James Connolly James Connolly ( ga, Séamas Ó Conghaile; 5 June 1868 – 12 May 1916) was an Irish republican, socialist and trade union leader. Born to Irish parents in the Cowgate area of Edinburgh, Scotland, Connolly left school for working life at the a ...

. He introduced and edited ''James Connolly: Selected Writing'' (Penguin, 1973) and wrote a regular column for the Association's newspaper ''Irish Democrat'' from 1987 to 2007. He is a member of the

Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to protect the rights and further the interests of authors. , it represents over 12,000 members and ass ...

. Ellis supports Chechen independence,

Tibetan independence The Tibetan Independence Movement () is the political movement advocating for the separation and independence of Tibet from the People's Republic of China. It is principally led by the Tibetan diaspora in countries like India and the United Stat ...

, a

United Ireland United Ireland, also referred to as Irish reunification, is the proposition that all of Ireland should be a single sovereign state. At present, the island is divided politically; the sovereign Republic of Ireland has jurisdiction over the maj ...

and Scottish independence. Ellis believes that the idea of unbiased historical works is a myth, instead believing that historians should state their bias at the start of a work - "I write as someone who fully supports Celtic cultural, political and economic independence. Nor do I disguise the fact that I am a socialist."

Popular fiction

Apart from his Celtic Studies interests, Ellis has written full-length biographies of the writers H. Rider Haggard,

W. E. Johns William Earl Johns (5 February 189321 June 1968) was an English First World War pilot, and writer of adventure stories, usually written under the pen name Capt. W. E. Johns: best known for creating the fictional air-adventurer ''Biggles''. Ea ...

Talbot Mundy Talbot Mundy (born William Lancaster Gribbon, 23 April 1879 – 5 August 1940) was an English writer of adventure fiction. Based for most of his life in the United States, he also wrote under the pseudonym of Walter Galt. Best known as the ...

and E. C. Vivian, as well as critical essays on other popular fiction authors. His output in the fictional field, writing in the genre of horror fantasy and

heroic fantasy Heroic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy in which events occur in a world where magic is prevalent and modern technology is nonexistent. The setting may be entirely fictitious in nature or based upon Earth with some additions. Unlike dark fiction ...

, began in 1977 when the first "Peter Tremayne" book appeared. Between 1983 and 1993 he also wrote eight adventure thrillers under the name "Peter MacAlan". As of June 2015 he had published 106 books, 100 short stories, several pamphlets, and numerous academic papers and signed journalistic articles. Under his own name he wrote two long running columns: "Anonn is Anall" ("Here and There") from 1987 to 2008 for the ''Irish Democrat'', and, "Anois agus Arís" ("Now and Again") from 2000 to 2008 for ''

The Irish Post ''The Irish Post'' is a national newspaper for the Irish community in Great Britain. It is published every Wednesday and is sold in shops in Britain and Ireland. History The first print edition of ''The Irish Post'' was published on Friday, ...

''. His books include 35 titles under his own name 55 titles under his pen name of Peter Tremayne and eight under the pen name of Peter MacAlan. He has lectured at universities in several countries, including the UK, Ireland, America,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. He has also broadcast on television and radio since 1968. The popularity of his '' Sister Fidelma mysteries'' led, in January 2001, to the formation of an International Sister Fidelma Society in

Little Rock, Arkansas ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

, with a website and a print magazine called ''The Brehon'' produced three times a year. A book, ''The Sister Fidelma Mysteries: Essays on the Historical Novels of Peter Tremayne'', was published by MacFarland in 2012. Ellis's novel, ''The Devil's Seal'' was published by St. Martin's Press in 2015.

Awards and honours

He was given an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by the

in 2006 in recognition of his work. He is also a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland The Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland is a learned society based in Ireland, whose aims are "to preserve, examine and illustrate all ancient monuments and memorials of the arts, manners and customs of the past, as connected with the antiquit ...

(1996) and a Fellow of the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society, founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the Histori ...

(1998). He was made a Bard of the Cornish Gorsedd (1987) for his work on the history of the Cornish language – ''The Cornish Language and its Literature'' (published in 1974). He received an Irish Post Award (1989) for his work on Celtic history, and the French Prix Historia (2010) for best historical crime novel of 2010. He was made Honorary Life President of the Scottish 1820 Society (1989), and Honorary Life Member of the

Irish Literary Society The Irish Literary Society was founded in London in 1892 by William Butler Yeats, T. W. Rolleston ,and Charles Gavan Duffy. Members of the Southwark Irish Literary Club met in Clapham Reform Club and changed the name early in the year. On 13 Febru ...

(2002).

Personal life

Ellis's wife, Dorothea Cheesmur Ellis (11 September 1940 – 30 March 2016) died of cancer at age 75.

References

External links

* * *
The Celtic League
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Peter Berresford 1943 births Living people English historians 20th-century English novelists 21st-century English novelists English biographers English people of Irish descent English literary critics Celtic studies scholars Bards of Gorsedh Kernow Writers of historical fiction set in the Middle Ages Writers of historical mysteries Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Alumni of the University of East London Alumni of the University of London People from Coventry English male novelists 20th-century English male writers 21st-century English male writers English male non-fiction writers Historians of Ireland Male biographers 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers