Roden Berkeley Wriothesley Noel, also known as ''Noël'' (27 August 1834 – 26 May 1894), was an
English poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
.
He was a
Cambridge Apostle
The Cambridge Apostles (also known as the Conversazione Society) is an intellectual society at the University of Cambridge founded in 1820 by George Tomlinson, a Cambridge student who became the first Bishop of Gibraltar.
History
Student ...
.
Early life
He was the youngest son of
Charles Noel, 1st Earl of Gainsborough and, his fourth wife,
Lady Frances Jocelyn. His only full sibling was
Lady Victoria Noel, who married
Sir Fowell Buxton, 3rd Baronet, later
Governor of South Australia
The governor of South Australia is the representative in South Australia of the monarch, currently King Charles III. The governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the governor-general of Aust ...
.
From his father's earlier marriages, he had several half-siblings including
Charles Noel, 2nd Earl of Gainsborough (who married Lady Ida Harriet Augusta, a daughter of
William Hay, 18th Earl of Erroll
William George Hay, 18th Earl of Erroll, KT, GCH, PC (21 February 1801 – 19 April 1846), styled Lord Hay between 1815 and 1819, was a Scottish peer and politician.
Early life
Erroll was the son of William Hay, 17th Earl of Erroll, and h ...
and
Elizabeth FitzClarence, an illegitimate daughter of King
William IV
William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded hi ...
),
Gerard James Noel, MP, Capt. Henry Lewis Noel, Lady Mary Arabella Louisa Noel (wife of
Sir Andrew Agnew, 8th Baronet
Sir Andrew Agnew, 8th Baronet Deputy Lieutenant, DL (2 January 1818 – 25 March 1892) was a Scottish politician and baronet.
Early life
Agnew was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on 2 January 1818 into the Scottish Lowlands Clan Agnew.George Edward ...
), and Lady Catherine Hamilton Noel (the first wife of
James Carnegie, 9th Earl of Southesk).
His mother was the second daughter of
Robert Jocelyn, 3rd Earl of Roden
Robert Jocelyn, 3rd Earl of Roden, (27 October 1788 – 20 March 1870), styled Viscount Jocelyn between 1797 and 1820, was an Irish Tory politician and supporter of Protestant causes.
Background
Jocelyn was the son of Robert Jocelyn, 2nd Ea ...
, and the former Maria Catherine Stapleton (a daughter of
Thomas Stapleton, 15th Baron Despencer
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the A ...
). His paternal grandparents were
Sir Gerard Noel, 2nd Baronet
Sir Gerard Noel Noel, 2nd Baronet (17 July 1759 – 25 February 1838), of Welham Grove in Leicestershire and Exton Park in Rutland, known as Gerard Edwardes until 1798, was an English Member of Parliament.
Background
Gerard Noel was born Gera ...
and
Diana Noel, 2nd Baroness Barham
Diana Noel, 2nd Baroness Barham (18 September 1762 – 12 April 1823) was a peerage, peer, philanthropist and an abolitionist who established schools and churches on the Gower Peninsula.
Early life
Born on 18 September 1762 at Barham Court, Test ...
(who succeeded her father as second Baroness Barham in 1823).
Noel was educated at
Windlesham House School
Windlesham House School is an independent boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 4 to 13 on the South Downs, in Pulborough, West Sussex, England. It was founded in 1837 by Charles Robert Malden and was the first boys' preparatory sc ...
,
Harrow School
Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...
and
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...
, where he obtained his M.A. in 1858. He then spent two years travelling in the East. From 1867 to 1871, he served as a
Groom of the Privy Chamber
A bridegroom (often shortened to groom) is a man who is about to be married
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obli ...
.
Career
Roden Noel's versification was unequal and sometimes harsh, but he has a genuine feeling for nature, and the work is permeated by philosophic thought.
His other works include a drama in verse, ''The House of Ravensburg'' (1877), an epic on
David Livingstone
David Livingstone (; 19 March 1813 – 1 May 1873) was a Scottish physician, Congregationalist, pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, and an explorer in Africa. Livingstone was married to Mary Moffat Livings ...
's expedition in Africa, a ''Life of Byron'' (1890,
Great Writers series), an edition of
Edmund Spenser
Edmund Spenser (; – 13 January 1599 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.) was an English poet best known for ''The Faerie Queene'', an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the House of Tudor, Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is re ...
's poems, a selection of
Thomas Otway
Thomas Otway (3 March 165214 April 1685) was an English dramatist of the Restoration period, best known for '' Venice Preserv'd'', or ''A Plot Discover'd'' (1682).
Life
Otway was born at Trotton near Midhurst, the parish of which his father ...
's plays (1888) for the
Mermaid series, and critical papers on literature and
philosophy
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
.
His ''Collected Poems'' were edited (1902) by his sister,
Lady Victoria Buxton, with a notice by
John Addington Symonds
John Addington Symonds Jr. (; 5 October 1840 – 19 April 1893) was an English poet and literary critic. A cultural historian, he was known for his work on the Renaissance, as well as numerous biographies of writers and artists. Although mar ...
, which had originally appeared in the ''Academy'' (January 19, 1899) as a review of ''The Modern Faust''. The selection (1892) in the series of Canterbury Poets has an introduction by
Robert Buchanan.
His poem "
Sea Slumber Song" was set to music by
Sir Edward Elgar as the first song of his song-cycle ''
Sea Pictures
''Sea Pictures, Op. 37'' is a song cycle for contralto and orchestra by Edward Elgar. It consists of settings of a poems by five different authors. A version for piano was often performed by Elgar. Many mezzo-sopranos have sung the piece.
The ...
''.
Noel was a spiritualist and interested in
parapsychology
Parapsychology is the study of alleged psychic phenomena (extrasensory perception, telepathy, teleportation, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis (also called telekinesis), and psychometry (paranormal), psychometry) and other paranormal cla ...
. He was a founding vice-president of the
Society for Psychical Research
The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) is a nonprofit organisation in the United Kingdom. Its stated purpose is to understand events and abilities commonly described as psychic or paranormal. It describes itself as the "first society to condu ...
.
[ W. C. Lubenow (2007). ''The Cambridge Apostles, 1820-1914: Liberalism, Imagination, and Friendship in British Intellectual and Professional Life''. Cambridge University Press. p. 229. ]
Personal life
In 1863, he married Alice Maria Caroline de Broë, daughter of Paul de Broë, the director of the Ottoman Bank in
Beirut
Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...
. Their third child, Eric, who died aged five, is commemorated in Roden Noel's best-known book of verse, ''A Little Child's Monument'' (1881).
The latter part of his life was spent at
Brighton
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 ...
, but he died in the train station of
Mainz
Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...
in Germany. His son
Conrad Noel became a Christian Socialist, famous as the "turbulent priest of Thaxted". After his death, his widow Alice married the Rev. David MacAnally in 1895.
Publications
*''Behind the Veil, and Other Poems'' (1863), not included in his collected works
*''Beatrice, and Other Poems'' (1868)
*''The Red Flag'' (1872)
*''Livingstone in Africa'' (1874)
*''A Little Child's Monument'' (1881)
*''Songs of the Heights and Deeps'' (1885)
*''A Modern Faust, and Other Poems'' (1888)
*''Poor People's Christmas'' (1890)
*''My Sea, and Other Poems'' (1896).
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Noel, Roden Berkeley Wriothesley
1834 births
1894 deaths
19th-century English poets
19th-century English male writers
People educated at Windlesham House School
People educated at Harrow School
Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
English male poets
English spiritualists
Roden
Roden is a name of Germanic origin, originally meaning "red valley" or an anglicization of the Gaelic name "O'Rodain". It may refer to:
Places
*Roden, Bavaria, a town in the Main-Spessart district of Bavaria, Germany
*Roden, Netherlands, a town ...
British parapsychologists
Younger sons of earls