Crosbie Garstin (7 May 1887 – 19 April 1930) was a poet, best-selling

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 wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while othe ...

and the eldest son of the

Newlyn School The Newlyn School was an art colony of artists based in or near Newlyn, a fishing village adjacent to Penzance, on the south coast of Cornwall, from the 1880s until the early twentieth century. The establishment of the Newlyn School was remini ...

painter

Norman Garstin Norman Garstin (28 August 1847 – 22 June 1926) was an Irish artist, teacher, art critic and journalist associated with the Newlyn School of painters. After completing his studies in Antwerp and Paris, Garstin travelled around Europe and pa ...

. He is said to have been "'untameable as a child", and to have "died in mysterious circumstances" after a boating accident in the Salcombe estuary. He is known for the Penhale trilogy of novels based in 18th-century Cornwall.

Personal life

Crosbie was born in Mount Vernon,

Newlyn Newlyn ( kw, Lulyn: Lu 'fleet', Lynn/Lydn 'pool') is a seaside town and fishing port (the largest fishing port in England) in south-west Cornwall, UK.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 203 ''Land's End'' Newlyn lies on the shore of Moun ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlan ...

to Norman Garstin and Louisa ‘Dochie’ née Jones. He was the eldest of three children; his siblings were Denys (later Denis) (1890–1918) and

Alethea Alethea is an English-language female first name derived from the Ancient Greek feminine noun grc, ἀλήθεια, alḗtheia, truth, label=none; ().Campbell. It is thus an equivalent of the name Verity, from the Latin feminine noun ''veritas'', ...

(1894–1978). He was educated at Brandon House, Cheltenham, Elstow School,

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

and in Germany. He was head-boy of his school due to sporting prowess in

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

and swimming. As a young man he travelled and worked as a bronco buster in

Montana Montana () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West List of regions of the United States#Census Bureau-designated regions and divisions, division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North ...

, United States and as a

lumberjack Lumberjacks are mostly North American workers in the logging industry who perform the initial harvesting and transport of trees for ultimate processing into forest products. The term usually refers to loggers in the era (before 1945 in the Unite ...

in Canada. He also travelled to China,

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...

, Japan and

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria ...

. On returning home his father, fed-up with Crosbie's inability to get suitable qualifications and hold down a job, sent him to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

. From 1912, he ran a cattle ranch in Bechuanaland, and acted as a bush ranger to the Tati Concessions. With the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

, he came back to Britain and in October 1914 joined B Squadron of

King Edward's Horse King Edward's Horse (The King's Overseas Dominions Regiment) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1901, which saw service in the First World War. Early history The regiment was originally formed as part of the Imperial Yeomanry ...

as a private. The cavalry regiment, which was open to colonials, was initially based in

Watford Watford () is a town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal en ...

and in the following spring,

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, just west of the M11 motorway on the county boundary with Essex, north-east of central London, and by rail from Liverpool Street station. Stortford had an estimated popu ...

. The regiment left for France on 21 April 1915 and Garstin was promoted to lance corporal shortly before leaving. He was commissioned on the battlefield as a

2nd lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until 1 ...

on 14 September 1915, and joined C Squadron, which was attached to the 47th (London) Division at

Nœux-les-Mines Nœux-les-Mines () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography Nœux-les-Mines is situated some south of Béthune and southwest of Lille, at the junction of the D937 and D65 roads. As the n ...

and was involved in the

Battle of Loos The Battle of Loos took place from 1915 in France on the Western Front, during the First World War. It was the biggest British attack of 1915, the first time that the British used poison gas and the first mass engagement of New Army units. Th ...

and on the Italian Front. In 1916 he was posted to Dublin as an Intelligence Officer during the rebellion there. He met Lilian Barkworth when he rescued her from drowning in

Lamorna Lamorna ( kw, Nansmornow) is a village, valley and cove in west Cornwall, England, UK. It is on the Penwith peninsula approximately south of Penzance. Lamorna became popular with the artists of the Newlyn School, including Alfred Munnings, La ...

on the

Penwith Peninsula Penwith (; kw, Pennwydh) is an area of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, located on the peninsula of the same name. It is also the name of a former local government district, whose council was based in Penzance. The area is named after o ...

; they married in 1922. As well as writing poetry, he made contributions to ''

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 * Pun ...

'' which were well received. His younger brother Denis was also a published poet and contributor to ''Punch'', as well as an accomplished soldier, journalist, diplomat, and international traveler; he was killed in action during World War I.

Disappearance

Garstin disappeared when returning from a party to a friend's yacht ''Osprey'' in the Salcombe estuary on 19 April 1930. The rowing boat capsized and his body was never found despite Garstin being a strong swimmer and two other occupants of the boat surviving. He left an estate of gross value £3,424, and £1,549 net (). His widow, Lilian, was mayor of Penzance in 1962–63.

Works

* ''

Up the Line to Death ''Up The Line To Death: The War Poets 1914–1918'' is a poetry anthology edited by Brian Gardner, and first published in 1964. It was a thematic collection of the poetry of World War I. A significant revisiting of the tradition of the war poet ...

'' – contributor to the

poetry anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically cate ...

* ''Vagabond Verses'' (1917) * ''The Mud Larks'' (1918) * ''The Sunshine Settlers'' (1918) * ''The Mud Larks Again'' (1919) * ''The Black Knight'' – with Mrs Alfred Sidgwick (1920) * ''The Ballad of the Royal Ann'' (1922) * ''The Coasts of Romance'' (1922) * ''The Owls’ House'' – Penhale trilogy, book 1 (1923) * ''Samuel Kelly, an Eighteenth Century Seaman'' – editor (1925) * ''High Noon'' – Penhale trilogy, book 2 (1925) * ''The West Wind'' – Penhale trilogy, book 3 (1926) * ''The Dragon and the Lotus'' (1928) * ''Houp-la!'' (1929) * ''China Seas'' (1930) – was made into a film (1935) directed by

Tay Garnett William Taylor "Tay" Garnett (June 13, 1894 – October 3, 1977) was an American film director and writer. Biography Early life Born in Los Angeles, Garnett attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and served as a naval aviator in Wo ...

and starring

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...

and

Jean Harlow Jean Harlow (born Harlean Harlow Carpenter; March 3, 1911 – June 7, 1937) was an American actress. Known for her portrayal of "bad girl" characters, she was the leading sex symbol of the early 1930s and one of the defining figures of the ...

References

External links

Crosbie Garstin
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Garstin, Crosbie 1887 births 1930 deaths 1930s missing person cases 20th-century English male writers 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English poets British Army personnel of World War I British male poets English historical novelists English male novelists Missing people Missing person cases in England People declared dead in absentia People from Newlyn Writers from Cornwall

Personal life

Disappearance

See also

Works

References

External links