Lyn Lloyd Newman (née Irvine; 3 May 1901 – 19 May 1973) was a literary journalist and writer.

Biography

She was born in

Berwick-upon-Tweed Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census recor ...

, the daughter of John A. Irvine, a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

minister, and his Irish wife Lilian; Andrew Irvine, who died on

Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...

in 1924, was her first cousin. After studying at the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

and

Girton College, Cambridge Girton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college at Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status by the un ...

, she moved to London and published poems and reviews. Some of these were published by

Leonard Woolf Leonard Sidney Woolf (; – ) was a British List of political theorists, political theorist, author, publisher, and civil servant. He was married to author Virginia Woolf. As a member of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party and the Fabian Socie ...

, then literary editor of the '' Nation and Athenaeum'', with whom Lyn formed a long friendship. In 1931, the

Hogarth Press The Hogarth Press is a book publishing Imprint (trade name), imprint of Penguin Random House that was founded as an independent company in 1917 by British authors Leonard Woolf and Virginia Woolf. It was named after their house in London Boro ...

published her first book, ''Ten Letter Writers'', increasing her recognition within the

Bloomsbury Group The Bloomsbury Group was a group of associated British writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists in the early 20th century. Among the people involved in the group were Virginia Woolf, John Maynard Keynes, E. M. Forster, Vanessa Bell, a ...

and beyond. In 1934, she started a literary subscription journal, ''The Monologue'', which she very largely wrote, printed and published herself. Subscribers included Clive and Julian Bell,

Elizabeth Bowen Elizabeth Dorothea Cole Bowen ( ; 7 June 1899 – 22 February 1973) was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish novelist and short story writer notable for her books about "The Big House in Ireland, the Big House" of Irish Landed gentry, landed ...

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a re ...

, Maynard Keynes,

Vita Sackville-West Victoria Mary, Lady Nicolson, Order of the Companions of Honour, CH (née Sackville-West; 9 March 1892 – 2 June 1962), usually known as Vita Sackville-West, was an English author and garden designer. Sackville-West was a successful nov ...

, and Leonard and

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer and one of the most influential 20th-century modernist authors. She helped to pioneer the use of stream of consciousness narration as a literary device. Vir ...

, Irvine ended the journal in February 1935. In 1934, Irvine married the Cambridge mathematician

Max Newman Maxwell Herman Alexander Newman, FRS (7 February 1897 – 22 February 1984), generally known as Max Newman, was a British mathematician and codebreaker. His work in World War II led to the construction of Colossus, the world's first operatio ...

; they had two sons, Edward (born 1935) and

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

, later a computer scientist (1939). They bought Cross Farm, in the village of Comberton five miles from the city, as a family house, and Lyn considered this home for the rest of her life. When Max visited

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

in 1937, Lyn and the infant Edward accompanied him there for six months; in 1940, she evacuated with both sons to the US while Max remained in Cambridge. After Max had started working at

Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and Bletchley Park estate, estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire), that became the principal centre of Allies of World War II, Allied World War II cryptography, code-breaking during the S ...

, they returned to live with him, and then moved with Max when he became Professor of Mathematics at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

in 1945. It was Max who was instrumental in bringing

Alan Turing Alan Mathison Turing (; 23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher and theoretical biologist. He was highly influential in the development of theoretical computer ...

to Manchester. Turing at first lived near to the Newmans and Max and Lyn both became close friends; only Lyn joined Turing's mother and brother at his funeral. She never enjoyed Manchester and returned permanently to Cross Farm in 1952 while Max remained in Manchester during term-times. Lyn published three more books under her maiden name. The first was a memoir of her childhood, followed by a piece of

nature writing Nature writing is nonfiction or fiction prose about the natural environment. It often draws heavily from scientific information and facts while also incorporating philosophical reflection upon various aspects of nature. Works are frequently writte ...

based on her life at Cross Farm. She formed Monologue Books to market these and to self-publish a memoir of her friend Alison Cairns. She also wrote a foreword to Sara Turing's biography of her son Alan. The dovecote of Cross Farm was converted for her and from there she maintained prolific correspondences with friends and family.

Works

*''Ten Letter Writers'' (1931) *''The Monologue'' (1934–1935) *''So Much Love So Little Money'' (1957) autobiography *''Field With Geese'' (1960) *''Alison Cairns and Her Family'' (1967)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irvine, Lyn 1901 births 1973 deaths English women journalists Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Anglo-Scots English women non-fiction writers People from Berwick-upon-Tweed English biographers British women biographers English autobiographers English people of Irish descent English people of Scottish descent British women autobiographers 20th-century English women writers 20th-century English writers People from Comberton Writers from Northumberland

Biography

Works

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References