Morley Roberts

Morley Charles Roberts (29 December 1857 – 8 June 1942) was an English novelist and short story writer, best known for ''The Private Life of Henry Maitland''.

Life and work

Roberts was born in London, the son of William Henry Roberts (1831–1908), a superintending inspector of income tax, and Catherine, née Pullen. He was educated at Bedford Grammar School, and Owens College, Manchester, England.

Near the end of 1876 Roberts took a steerage passage to Australia and landed at Melbourne in January 1877. The next three years were spent in obtaining colonial experience, mostly on sheep stations in New South Wales, and Roberts then returned to London. For a time he worked in the war office and other government departments, but again went on his travels and had varied occupations in the United States and Canada between 1884 and 1886. He later travelled in Oceania, Australia, South Africa, amongst other parts of the world.

Roberts used his experiences freely in his books, the first being ''The Western Avernus'' (1887), a travelogue taking place in North America. While it was his most successful publication, his portrayals of Indigenous and Chinese people were marred by racism. Roberts began his long series of novels and short stories in 1890. Of his novels, ''Rachel Marr'' (1903) was highly praised by William Henry Hudson. His novel ''Prey of the Strongest'' (1906), was the first accurate depiction of British Columbia mills, woods, and gambling halls. ''The Private Life of Henry Maitland'' (1912), based on the life of George Gissing the novelist, was one of his most important works. Roberts also wrote essays, biography, drama and verse, and did some competent work in biology. He married Alice, daughter of the playwright Angiolo Robson Slous, and died in London aged 84 on 8 June 1942.

He was only a few years in Australia, but there are many Australian references both in his novels and his short stories. Storm Jameson, who wrote a short biography of Roberts in 1961, considered ''Time and Thomas Waring'' to be his best novel. An exhaustive bibliography by Markus Neacey of his novels and other writings and writings about him can be found in the July 2012 number of ''English Literature in Transition''. Roberts has featured in several articles in ''The Gissing Journal''. Victorian Secrets have published a scholarly edition of the ''Selected Stories of Morley Roberts'' (Brighton: Victorian Secrets, 2015), edited with an introduction by Markus Neacey.

Bibliography

Novels:
* ''In Low Relief: A Bohemian Transcript'', London: Chapman and Hall, 1890, 2 volumes
*''The Mate of the Vancouver'' (1892)
*''The Degradation of Geoffrey Alwith'', London: Downey & Co., 1895
*''A Question of Instinct: An Analytical Study'', London: H. Henry and Co., n.d. 895*''The Earth-Mother'', London: Downey & Co., 1896
*''The Great Jester: Being Some Jests of Fate'', London: Mentz, Kenner & Gelberg, 1896
*''Maurice Quain'', London: Hutchinson & Co., 1897
*''The Adventure of the Broad Arrow: An Australian Romance'', London: Hutchinson & Co., 1897
*''The Colossus: A Story of Today'' (1899)
*''The Descent of the Duchess'', London: Sands & Co., 1900
*''Lord Linlithgow: A Novel'', London: Edward Arnold, 1900
*''The Plunderers: A Romance'', London: Methuen & Co., 1900
*''Immortal Youth: A Novel'', London: Hutchinson & Co., 1902
*''The Way of a Man: A Romance'' (1902)
*''Rachel Marr'' (1903)
*''Lady Penelope'' (1905)
*''The Idlers'', London: F. V. White and Co. Limited, 1905
*''The Prey of the Strongest'', London: Hurst and Blackett, 1906
*''The Flying Cloud: A Story of the Sea'' (1907)
*''David Bran'' (1908)
*''Thorpe's Way'' (1911)
*''Time and Thomas Waring'' (1914)
*''Hearts of Women, a Study of a Group'', London : Eveleigh Nash Company, Limited, 1919
*''The Scent of Death'', London: Eveleigh Nash & Grayson, 1931
*''Women and Ships, Being Some Reminiscences and Comments on Life at Sea and Ashore by Geordie Armstrong A. B.'', London: Grayson & Grayson, 1932

Short story collections:
*''The Reputation of George Saxon and Other Stories'', London: Cassell & Company, Limited, 1891
*''King Billy of Ballarat and Other Stories'', London: Lawrence & Bullen, Ltd., 1892 (includes "Father and Son")
*''Red Earth'', Lawrence & Bullen (London), 1894 (includes "Wide Bay Bar")
*''The Adventures of a Ship's Doctor'', London: Downey & Co., 1897 (includes "A High Lonesome")
*''The Keeper of the Waters'', London: Skeffington & Son, 1898 (includes "The Dreamer", "The Story for Bulmer", The Red Spot", "The Anticipator")
*''The Promotion Of The Admiral And Other Sea Comedies'', J Eveleigh Nash (London), 1903 (including: "The Scuttling Of The Pandora")
*''Bianca's Caprice And Other Stories'', London: F. V. White & Co. Ltd., 1904 (includes "The Transit of Venus")
*''The Blue Peter: Sea Comedies'', London: Eveleigh Nash, 1906 (includes "The Overcrowded Iceberg")
*''Captain Balaam of The Cormorant and Other Sea Comedies'', London: Eveleigh Nash, 1906 (includes "Jack-All-Alone")
*''The Red Burgee: Sea Comedies'', London: Eveleigh Nash, 1906 (includes "A Man's Death", "Wide Bay Bar")
*''Painted Rock: Tales and Narratives of Painted Rock, South Panhandle, Texas'', London: Eveleigh Nash, 1907
*''Captain Spink and Other Sea Comedies'', London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1908
*''Adventures of Captain Spink and his two mates Ward and Day'', London: Eveleigh Nash & Grayson, n.d
*''Midsummer Madness'', Eveleigh Nash (London), 1909 (includes "The Blood Fetish")Neacey, Markus (2015). ''Selected Stories of Morley Roberts''. Brighton: Victorian Secrets.
*''The Wonderful Bishop and Other London Adventures'', London: Eveleigh Nash, 1910
*''Sea Dogs: A Set of Sea Comedies'', London: Eveleigh Nash, 1910 (includes "The Strange Tale of Billy-be-Damned")
*''The Man Who Stroked Cats and Other Stories'', London: Eveleigh Nash, 1912
*''Sweet Herbs and Bitter'', London: Eveleigh Nash, 1915
*''The Lords of the Fo'c'sle and Other Sea Comedies'', London: Eveleigh Nash, 1915
*''The Madonna of the Beechwood and Other Stories'', London: Mills and Boon, Limited, n.d. .1919(includes "The Man Who Lost His Likeness")
*''Ancient Mariners and Other Stories'', London: Mills and Boon, Limited, n.d. 919*''Followers of the Sea: A Set of Sea Comedies'', London: Eveleigh Nash & Grayson Limited, 1923
*''Tales of Changing Seas'', London: Eveleigh Nash & Grayson Limited, 1927 (includes "The Scuttling Of The Pandora", "Jack-All-Alone")
*''Short Stories of To-Day and Yesterday'', London: George G. Harrap, 1928 (includes "The Man Who Lost His Likeness", "The Old Ancient Ship", "A Case of Have To")
*''The White Mamaloi and Other Stories'', London: Eveleigh Nash & Grayson, 1929. Contains six stories, most never before published: "The White Mamaloi", "App'inted", "The Clerihan Ball", "The Man Who Wasn't Selfish Enough", "Poor Christ", "The Medical Certificate", with a fourteen-page preface by Roberts on the art of story-writing.

Poetry:
*''Songs of Energy'', London: Lawrence & Bullen, 1891
*''Lyra Mutabilis'', Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1920

Plays:
*''Four Plays'', London: Eveleigh Nash, 1911

Non-fiction:
*''The Western Avernus, or, Toil and Travel in Further North America'', London: Smith, Elder, & Co., 1887 (travel memoir, dedicated to George Gissing and W.H. Hudson)
*''Land-travel and Sea-Faring'', London: Lawrence and Bullen, 1891 (travel memoir, recounting stories of the author's voyage to Australia in steerage and of his time working on sheep stations in New South Wales)
*Cecil Roberts (1860-1894), ''Adrift in America, or, Work and Adventure in the States'', London: Lawrence and Bullen, 1891. With an appendix by Morley Roberts.
*''The Wingless Psyche'' (1904) (essays)
*''A Tramp's Note-book'', London: F. V. White & Co. Ltd., 1904 (autobiographic essays)
*''The Private Life of Henry Maitland'' (1912) (a disguised biography of George Gissing)
*''Warfare in the Human Body: Essays on Method, Malignity, Repair and Allied Subjects'' (1920)
*''W. H. Hudson: A Portrait'' (1924)
*''Malignancy and Evolution: a Biological Enquiry into the Nature and Causes of Cancer'' (1926, 1934)
*''On the Old Trail: Through British Columbia After Forty Years'', London: Eveleigh Nash & Grayson, Ltd, 1927
*''The Serpent's Fang: Essays in Biological Criticism'', London: E. Nash & Grayson, 1930
*''A Humble Fisherman'', London: Grayson & Grayson, 1932 (autobiographic essays)
*''Bio-Politics: An Essay in the Physiology, Pathology and Politics of the Social and Somatic Organism'' (1938)
*''The Behaviour of Nations: An Essay on the Conduct of National Organisms in the Nutritional Field'', London: J. M. Dent and Sons Ltd, 1941

References

External links

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Read Chapter 1 of The Adventure of the Broad Arrow from the Lost Worlds Australia Anthology.
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* Bibliography of works by Morley Roberts a



University of Pennsylvania: Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
*Archival Material at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Morley
1857 births
1942 deaths
19th-century English novelists
20th-century English novelists
19th-century English short story writers
19th-century English male writers
20th-century English short story writers
20th-century English male writers
English science fiction writers
People educated at Bedford School
English male short story writers
English male novelists
English male non-fiction writers