Eric Whelpton
   HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Eric Whelpton
OR:
Eric Whelpton on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

Eric George Whelpton (21 March 1894 – 13 February 1981) was a British writer, teacher and traveller.


Early life and education

Whelpton was born on 21 March 1894 in
Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...
, France, the son of the Revd George Whelpton, minister of Trinity Methodist Church,
Abingdon-on-Thames Abingdon-on-Thames ( ), commonly known as Abingdon, is a historic market town and civil parish on the River Thames in the Vale of the White Horse district of Oxfordshire, England. The Historic counties of England, historic county town of Berksh ...
, Berkshire and Georgina Elizabeth Holmes (died 1897). His maternal grandfather was Sir Henry Light Governor of British Guiana from 1838-1848. He attended a small Paris school and lived in
Passy Passy () is an area of Paris, France, located in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, on the Rive Droite, Right Bank. It is adjacent to Auteuil, Paris, Auteuil to the southwest, and Chaillot to the northeast. It is home to many ...
before the family moved to England in 1906. He attended
Abingdon School Abingdon School is an independent day and boarding school in Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England. It is the List of the oldest schools in the United Kingdom, twentieth oldest Independent School (UK), independent British school. In May 202 ...
from 1906 until 1909. From Abingdon he went to the Leys School, Cambridge before entering
Hertford College, Oxford Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main ga ...
in 1913. His education was interrupted when he served during World War I.


Career

Whelpton taught English at Ecole Des Roches and ran an office for the interchange of pupils and teachers, together with Dorothy L. Sayers. In 1920 he then moved and bought an estate agency in Florence and later worked in a girls' school and started a weekly newspaper called the Italian Mail. He taught at Christ Church Cathedral School. At the
University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
, Whelpton became a close friend of Sayers, and was one of the models for the character of
Lord Peter Wimsey Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey (later 17th Duke of Denver) is the fictional protagonist in a series of detective novels and short stories by Dorothy L. Sayers (and their continuation by Jill Paton Walsh). A amateur, dilettante who solves myst ...
in her detective novels. Whelpton later taught French at
King's College School King's College School, also known as Wimbledon, KCS, King's and KCS Wimbledon, is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, southwest London, England. The s ...
, London, and was reader in comparative education at
King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...
(1931–42). Following the death of her husband, Dorothy Sayers acted as Whelpton's literary secretary. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Whelpton worked as a
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
news correspondent in France and, as recounted in his travel book, ''The Balearics:
Majorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...
, Minorca,
Ibiza Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...
'', he was told by a Swiss correspondent that he was on the Gestapo blacklist. His last two books, ''The Making of a European'' (1974) and ''The Making of an Englishman'' (1977), are largely autobiographical.


Personal life

From 1943 he was married to the artist and travel writer Barbara Crocker who illustrated a number of his books.


Bibliography

* ''The Book of Dublin'' (1948) * ''The Intimate Charm of Kensington'' (1948) * ''Paris To-Day, with a gazetteer of places of interest and entertainment'' (Rockliff, 1948) * ''By Italian Shores'' (1950) * ''The Balearics: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza'' (Robert Hale, 1952) * ''Springtime at St. Hilaire'' (Museum Press, 1953) * ''Dalmatia'' (1954) * ''The Road to Nice'' (1955) * ''Summer at San Martino'' (with Barbara Whelpton; Hutchinson, 1956) * ''Grand Tour of Italy'' (1956) * ''Calabria and the Aeolian Islands'' (1957) * ''Paris Cavalcade'' (1959) * ''Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica'' (with Barbara Whelpton; Robert Hale,1960) * ''Greece & the Islands'' (1961) * ''Southern Spain (with Chapters on the Algarve)'' (1964) * ''A Concise History of Italy'' (1965) * ''Florence and Tuscany'' (1965) * ''Venice and North-Eastern Italy'' (1965) * ''Normandy and Brittany'' (holiday guides) (1965) * ''Eric Whelpton's Gastronomic Guide to Unknown France'' (1966) * ''Paris'' (1967) * ''Rome'' (1968) * ''The Italian Lakes & Dolomites'' (Collins holiday guides) (1969) * ''The Fall, the Reign and the Eclipse of Rome: History of Europe, 476-1530'' (1970) * ''The Austrians (How They Live & Work)'' (1970) * ''AA Road Book of France'' (with gazetteer, itineraries, maps and town plans) (foreword, 1970) * ''The Making of a European'' (1974) * ''The Making of an Englishman'' (1977)


See also

List of Old Abingdonians


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whelpton, Eric 1894 births 1981 deaths People educated at Bishop's Stortford College People educated at Christ Church Cathedral School People educated at Abingdon School Academics of King's College London People educated at The Leys School Alumni of Hertford College, Oxford English travel writers English male poets British expatriates in France 20th-century English poets 20th-century English male writers English male non-fiction writers