Peter Berresford Ellis
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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 species; as well as the ...
, literary biographer, 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 wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...
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''
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 rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...
. His father, Alan John Ellis (1898-1971), was a Cork-born
journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...
who started his career with '' The Cork Examiner''. According to Ellis, the Ellis family (originally "Elys") can be traced in the area from 1288; his branch were stonecutters in Cork City from the early 1800s. His mother, Eva Daisy (1897-1991), was the daughter of Henry Randolph Randell, a house painter and decorator from an old
Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...
family of Saxon origin. Her autobiography presents its lineage back through 14 generations in the Hurstpierpoint area. Her mother was of Breton descent. Educated at
Brighton College of Art Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
and the
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
, Ellis graduated from North East London Polytechnic (now part of the University 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 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,
Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; , ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, and often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left, Welsh nationalist list of political parties in Wales, political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from th ...
'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, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...
). In 1999 '' The Times Higher Education Supplement'' described him as one of the leading authorities on the Celts then writing. He has been International Chairman of the Celtic League (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 (; 5 June 1868 – 12 May 1916) was a Scottish people, Scottish-born Irish republicanism, Irish republican, socialist, and trade union leader, executed for his part in the Easter Rising, 1916 Easter Rising against British rule i ...
. 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. Ellis supports Chechen independence, Tibetan independence, a United Ireland 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''. Earl ...
, Talbot Mundy 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, 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''. His books include 35 titles under his own name 55 titles under his
pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...
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 Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
,
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. 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 Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...
, 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 University of East London in 2006 in recognition of his work. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland (1996) and a Fellow of the
Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society (RHS), 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 H ...
(1998). He was made a Bard of the Cornish Gorsedd (1987) for his work on the history of the
Cornish language Cornish (Standard Written Form: or , ) is a Southwestern Brittonic language, Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family. Along with Welsh language, Welsh and Breton language, Breton, Cornish descends from Common Brittonic, ...
 – ''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 (2002).


Personal life

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


Works

*
The Cornish Language and its Literature
' (1974) *
Hell or Connaught!: the Cromwellian Colonisation of Ireland, 1652-1660
' (1975) *
The Boyne Water: The Battle of the Boyne, 1690
' (1976) *
The Great Fire of London
' (1976) *
Caesar's Invasion of Britain
' (1978) *
H. Rider Haggard: A Voice from the Infinite
' (1978) *
MacBeth: High King of Scotland 1040-57
' (1980) *
A History of the Irish Working Class
' (1985) *
The Celtic Revolution: A Study in Anti-Imperialism
' (1985) *
A Dictionary of Irish Mythology
' (1987) *
The Rising of the Moon: A Novel
' (1987) *
The Celtic Empire
' (1990) *
Celtic Inheritance
' (1992) *
Celtic Dawn: A history of Pan-Celticism
' (1993) *
The Druids
' (1995) *
Celt and Greek: Celts in the Hellenic world
' (1997) *
Celt and Roman: The Celts of Italy
' (1998) *
A Brief History of the Celts
' (1998) *
The Celts: A History
' (1998) *
The Ancient World of the Celts
' (1998) *
The Chronicles of the Celts: New tellings of their myths and legends
' (1999) *
Erin's Blood Royal: The Gaelic Noble Dynasties of Ireland
' (2002) *
Eyewitnesses to Irish History
' (2004)


See also

* Bibliography of Peter Berresford Ellis * Sister Fidelma mysteries


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 Breton descent 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 Writers of Sherlock Holmes pastiches Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Alumni of the University of Brighton 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 Historians of Ireland English male biographers 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers