Horace Rex Tremlett (8 June 1903 – 1986) was a British- South African mining engineer, journalist and fascist activist.

Biography

Early life and education

Horace Rex Tremlett was born on 8 June 1903, the son of Horace Samuel Tremlett (1858–1941), an English mining engineer who helped develop the city of

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, and Jane Robinson Brunton (1875–1948), a fiction writer known under the

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 ...

Mrs. Horace Tremlett. Her best-known book, ''With the Tin Gods'' (1914), is an account of her experience in Africa as she accompanied her husband on a journey from

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

to Niger, and into

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

until 1912. Tremlett studied at

Berkhamsted School Berkhamsted School is a private day school (known in the UK as a public school), in the market town of Berkhamsted, in Hertfordshire, England. The present school was formed in 1997 by the amalgamation of the original Berkhamsted School, founded ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, where he was a schoolmate of journalist A. K. Chesterton and politician Ben Greene, then attended

Camborne School of Mines Camborne School of Mines (), commonly abbreviated to CSM, was founded in 1888. Its research and teaching is related to the understanding and management of the Earth's natural processes, resources and the environment. It has undergraduate, postg ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

. At the age of 16 he began to search for gold in

Nyasaland Nyasaland () was a British protectorate in Africa that was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Between 1953 and 1963, Nyasaland was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. After ...

, journeying across Central Africa until 1928. Tremlett worked as a mining engineer and a journalist in

, then moved back to England.

Fascist activist

In the early 1930s, Tremlett was a member of the

British Union of Fascists The British Union of Fascists (BUF) was a British fascist political party formed in 1932 by Oswald Mosley. Mosley changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists in 1936 and, in 1937, to the British Union. In 1939, f ...

(BUF), serving as

Oswald Mosley Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980), was a British aristocrat and politician who rose to fame during the 1920s and 1930s when he, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, turned to fascism. ...

's deputy director of publications and as the editor of BUF's newspapers ''Fascist Week'' and ''

The Blackshirt ''The Blackshirt'' was the official newspaper of Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists (BUF) from 1933 until 1936. After the launch of ''Action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principl ...

''. After several meetings together, Tremlett convinced A. K. Chesterton to join the party in November 1933. In 1934 he resigned from the BUF with 'The National' and the 'New January Club' splinter group. In 1945 Tremlett attended the founding meeting of the National Front along with Chesterton. According to his personal

MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...

file, however, he appeared to "have moderated his views" by the 1950s, and Tremlett's file, which had been opened in February 1934, was not updated after April 1957.

Later life

In 1949 Tremlett was the subject of the black-and-white 3m27s-long

BBC television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...

documentary ''Cornish Farmer Turns Tin Miner'', which tells his story as he was reworking an old mine on his farm near

St Austell Saint Austell (, ; ) is a town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, south of Bodmin and west of the border with Devon. At the 2021 Census in the United Kingdom, census it had a population of 20,900. History St Austell was a village centred ...

, Cornwall, during the post-WWII recovery period. In the 1950s he renewed with journalism and became involved with BBC television, mainly on farming programs. Tremlett published his autobiography in three parts: ''Easy Going'' (1940), the story of his experiences with various cultures on three continents, ''Road to Ophir'' (1956), the story of his past life as a mining engineer in Africa, and ''Gold in the Morning Sun'' (1983), which he subtitled "travels and adventures of a new West Australian". Tremlett was a regular contributor to MANAS Journal and a friend of

E. F. Schumacher Ernst Friedrich Schumacher (16 August 1911 – 4 September 1977) was a German-born British statistician and economist who is best known for his proposals for human-scale, decentralised and appropriate technologies.Biography on the inner dust ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tremlett, Rex 1903 births 1986 deaths South African gold prospectors South African people of Cornish descent People educated at Berkhamsted School Alumni of Michaelhouse Camborne School of Mines 20th-century South African journalists South African expatriates in the United Kingdom