Robert Harborough Sherard (3 December 1861 – 30 January 1943) was an English writer and journalist. He was a friend, and the first biographer, of

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

, as well as being Wilde's most prolific biographer in the first half of the twentieth century.

Early life

Born on 3 December 1861 at

Putney Putney () is an affluent district in southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ...

, London, England, Sherard began life as Robert Harborough Sherard Kennedy and was the son of the Reverend Bennet Sherard Calcraft Kennedy (an illegitimate son of Robert Sherard, 6th Earl of Harborough by the actress Emma Love). His mother was Jane Stanley Wordsworth, a granddaughter of the poet

William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poetry, Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romanticism, Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Balla ...

. He dropped the surname Kennedy upon moving to Paris in late 1882 after a quarrel with his father, who cut him off from the expected family inheritance. Sherard was educated at

Elizabeth College, Guernsey The Royal College of Elizabeth, better known as Elizabeth College, is a co-educational independent school in Saint Peter Port, Guernsey. A member of the HMC (The Heads' Conference), it is a public school in the British sense of the term. Founde ...

, 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 ...

and the

University of Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...

Career

Sherard wrote about the effects of

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

into

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and his articles have been described as

xenophobic Xenophobia (from (), 'strange, foreign, or alien', and (), 'fear') is the fear or dislike of anything that is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression that is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-gr ...

and

anti-semitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

. Whilst he was an "outspoken anti-semitic observer of 'social problems' " he denied he was motivated by hatred of

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

Personal life

Sherard married three times. In 1887 he married Marthe Lipska, a daughter of the Baron de Stern. They divorced in 1906 and he married the American novelist, poet and dramatist, Irene Osgood in 1908. They divorced in 1915, and he married Alice Muriel Fiddian in 1928. He died in

Ealing Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...

in west London in January 1943, aged 81.

Works

Biographies

* ''Émile Zola: A Biographical and Critical Study.'' London: Chatto & Windus, 1893. * ''Alphonse Daudet: a biographical and critical study'' (1894) * ''My First Voyage, My First Lie'' (1901) in collaboration with Alphonse Daudet * ''Oscar Wilde: The Story of an Unhappy Friendship.'' The Hermes Press, 1902. * ''The Life of Oscar Wilde.'' London: T. Werner Laurie, 1906. * ''The Real Oscar Wilde: To be used as a Supplement to, and in Illustration of "The Life of Oscar Wilde".'' London: T. Werner Laurie, 1917. * ''The Life and Evil Fate of Guy de Maupassant'' (1926) * ''Oscar Wilde Twice Defended from André Gide's Wicked Lies and Frank Harris's Cruel Libels; to Which Is Added a Reply to George Bernard Shaw, a Refutation of Dr G.J. Renier's Statements, a Letter to the Author from Lord Alfred Douglas and an Interview with Bernard Shaw by Hugh Kingsmill.'' Chicago: Argus Book Shop, 1934. * ''Bernard Shaw, Frank Harris and Oscar Wilde.'' New York: Greystone Press, 1937.

Novels

* ''A Bartered Honour'' (1883) * ''The American Marquis'' (1888) * ''Rogues'' (1889) * ''Agatha's Quest'' (1890) * ''By Right Not Law'' (1891) * ''The Typewritten Letter'' (1891) * ''Jacob Niemand'' (1895) * ''The Iron Cross'' (1897) * ''Wolves: An Old Story Retold'' (1904) * ''After the Fault'' (1906)

Poetry

''Whispers'' (1884)

Non-fiction

* ''The White Slaves of England'' (1897) (originally serialised in ''Pearson's Magazine'') * ''The Cry of the Poor'' (1901) * ''The Closed Door'' (1902) * ''The Child Slaves of Britain'' (1905) * ''Modern Paris: Some Sidelights on Its Inner Life.'' London: T. Werner Laurie, 1912.

Autobiography

* ''Oscar Wilde: The Story of an Unhappy Friendship.'' London: privately printed, 1902. London: Greening & Co., 1905. * ''Twenty Years in Paris: Being Some Recollections of a Literary Life.'' London: Hutchinson & Co., 1905.

Papers

* University of Reading (Reading, UK) (Papers purchased 1 February 1964 from

Rupert Hart-Davis Sir Rupert Charles Hart-Davis (28 August 1907 – 8 December 1999) was an English publisher and editor. He founded the publishing company Rupert Hart-Davis Ltd. As a biographer, he is remembered for his ''Hugh Walpole'' (1952), as an editor, ...

References

* * *O'Brien, Kevin H.F. "Sherard, Robert Harborough." ''The 1890s, An Encyclopedia of British Literature, Art & Culture'' Ed. G.A. Cevasco. New York & London: Garland Publishing, 1993.

In popular culture

* Sherard is a character in the Oscar Wilde Mystery series written by

Gyles Brandreth Gyles Daubeney Brandreth (born 8 March 1948) is a British broadcaster, writer and former politician. He has worked as a television presenter, theatre producer, journalist, author and publisher. He was a presenter for TV-am's '' Good Morning Bri ...

Footnotes

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sherard, Robert 1861 births 1943 deaths 19th-century English novelists 20th-century English novelists 19th-century English biographers 20th-century English memoirists 19th-century English male writers 20th-century English male writers 19th-century English poets People from Putney

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

English biographers English male poets English non-fiction writers People educated at Elizabeth College, Guernsey English male novelists English male non-fiction writers Writers from the London Borough of Wandsworth