Ronald Gow (1 November 1897 – 27 April 1993) was an English dramatist, best known for '' Love on the Dole'' (1934). Born in Heaton Moor,

Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, the son of a bank manager, Gow attended Altrincham County High School. After training as a chemist, he returned to his old school as a teacher. In the late 1920s he made several educational

silent films A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...

with his pupils: ''The People of the Axe'' (1926) and ''The People of the Lake'' (1928) recreated life in ancient Britain, the latter produced 'with the approval of' Sir William Boyd Dawkins; ''The Man Who Changed His Mind'' (1928) was a Boy Scout adventure with a cameo from Robert Baden-Powell; ''The Glittering Sword'' (1929) was a medieval parable about disarmament. Writing occupied his spare time during his years as a schoolmaster, and he wrote several plays for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. At the age of 35 he had his first professional production, in London and New York, with ''Gallows Glorious'' (1933), a play about the American slavery abolitionist John Brown. In 1934 he wrote '' Love on the Dole'', based on Walter Greenwood's novel about

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work du ...

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. The play was a huge success. Wendy Hiller played the lead, and also made her first film appearance in the Gow-scripted '' Lancashire Luck''. In 1937 Hiller and Gow married. They later moved to

Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, northwest of central London and southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High Wycombe. The ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

, where they raised two children, Ann (1939–2006) and Anthony (b. 1942). He lived with Hiller at their home, "Spindles", until his death in 1993. He continued writing plays into his eighties, providing material for his wife in adaptations of ''

Tess of the D'Urbervilles ''Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman'' is the twelfth published novel by English author Thomas Hardy. It initially appeared in a Book censorship, censored and Serialized novel, serialised version, published by the British illustrated newsp ...

'' (1946), which was a great success while ''

Ann Veronica ''Ann Veronica'' is a New Woman novel by H. G. Wells published in 1909. It describes the rebellion of Ann Veronica Stanley, a 21-year-old woman , against her middle-class father's stern patriarchal rule. The novel dramatizes the contemporary pr ...

'' (1949), adapted from the

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...

novel,"Ronald Gow (1897–1993)"
doollee.com quickly proved a commercial failure. Gow was co-credited for the book used in the musical version of ''Ann Veronica'' which premiered in 1969. His other adaptations include Vita Sackville-West's ''The Edwardians'' and ''A Boston Story'' (1966), based on Henry James' ''

Watch and Ward ''Watch and Ward'' is a short novel by Henry James, first published as a serial in ''The Atlantic Monthly'' in 1871 and later as a book in 1878. This was James' first novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels ...

''.

Selected works

* '' Love on the Dole'' (1934) * '' Jenny Jones'' (1944)

References

External links

* *
Ronald Gow profile
at the

Open Library Open Library is an online project intended to create "one web page for every book ever published". Created by Aaron Swartz, Brewster Kahle, Alexis Rossi, Anand Chitipothu, and Rebecca Hargrave Malamud, Open Library is a project of the Internet ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gow, Ronald 1897 births 1993 deaths People educated at Altrincham Grammar School for Boys People from Beaconsfield People from Heaton Moor English male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century English dramatists and playwrights 20th-century English male writers