Stuart Petre Brodie Mais (4 July 1885 – 21 April 1975), known publicly as S. P. B. Mais, was a British author, journalist and broadcaster. He was an author of travel books and guides, and had an informal style that made him popular with the general public.

Biography

Petre Mais, as he was known in his personal life,"SPB Mais", Nicholas Shakespeare, in The Best Australian Essays 2002, ed. Peter Craven, Black Inc., 2002, p. 208 was the son of Rev. John Brodie Stuart Mais, curate of St Margaret's,

Ladywood Ladywood is an inner-city district next to central Birmingham. Historically in Warwickshire, in June 2004, Birmingham City Council conducted a citywide "Ward Boundary Revision" to round-up the 39 Birmingham wards to 40. As a result of this, La ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

and his wife Hannah Horden (née Tamlin). He was born at Ladywood, but raised in

Tansley Tansley is a village on the southern edge of the Derbyshire Peak District, two miles east of Matlock, Derbyshire, Matlock. History Tansley is recorded in the Domesday Book as Taneslege, and its name comes from the combination of the Old Englis ...

, Derbyshire, where his family relocated on his father's appointment as rector there in 1890.Who's Who Among Living Authors of Older Nations, vol. I 1931-1932, ed. A. Lawrence, Golden Syndicate Publishing Company, 1932, p. 267 He was educated at

Denstone College Denstone College is a co-educational, private, boarding and day school in Denstone, Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, England. It is a Woodard School, having been founded by Nathaniel Woodard, and so Christian traditions are practised as part of Coll ...

, Staffordshire, then read English Literature at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

(BA 1909, MA 1913) After teaching at Rossall, Sherborne and Tonbridge, and

Royal Air Force College Cranwell The Royal Air Force College (RAFC) is the Royal Air Force academy which provides initial training to all RAF personnel who are preparing to become commissioned officers. The College also provides initial training to aircrew cadets and is resp ...

, he later worked for the ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...

'', the '' Daily Graphic'' and ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

''. A prolific author of over 200 books, he also broadcast for numerous wireless programmes 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 ...

between the 1920s and 1940s. Mais was an ardent campaigner for the English countryside and traditions, leading walks for people who came for a day trip by train from big cities, often from London. Mais worked as a journalist for ''

The Oxford Times ''The Oxford Times'' is a weekly newspaper, published each Thursday in Oxford, England. The paper is published from a large production facility at Osney Mead, west Oxford, and is owned by Newsquest, the UK subsidiary of US-based Gannett Comp ...

'' newspaper, and also for the BBC as a radio broadcaster, most famously on the ''Kitchen Front'' radio programme that aired after the morning news during the Second World War. He presented ''Letter from America'' from 1933, 13 years before a similar concept was made famous by

Alistair Cooke Alistair Cooke, Order of the British Empire, KBE (né Alfred Cooke; 20 November 1908 – 30 March 2004) was a British-American writer whose work as a journalist, television personality and radio broadcaster was done primarily in the Unite ...

. He also presented a series on ''This Unknown Island''. One grandson is ''

Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free newspaper, free of charge in London, Engl ...

'' writer Sebastian Shakespeare, who wrote of his grandfather:

Personal life

In 1913, Mais married Doris Snow; they had two daughters: Priscilla (1916–1982) and Vivien (born 1920). After their separation (they never divorced), he had a relationship with Winifred Doughty (1905–1993), who changed her name by deed poll to Gillian ("Jill") Mais; they also had two daughters. After becoming dissatisfied with living standards in the tiny retirement home at

Lindfield, Sussex Lindfield is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. The parish lies to the north-east of Haywards Heath, and stands on the upper reaches of the River Ouse. The name 'Lindfield' means 'open land with li ...

that had been offered to the penniless Mais by the Samaritan Housing Association, along with Mais's refusal to marry her, Jill left Mais for a mutual friend, Dudley Carew, whom she married, and lived with him across the road from Mais, taking him meals."SPB Mais", Nicholas Shakespeare, in The Best Australian Essays 2002, ed. Peter Craven, Black Inc., 2002, pp. 207-208

Death

Mais died on 21 April 1975 at his retirement accommodation in

Bibliography

Critical works

* ''Delight in Books'' (1931) * ''A Chronicle of English Literature'' (1936)

Novels

* ''The Education of a Philanderer'' (1919) * ''Prunello'' (1924) * ''Eclipse'' (1925) * ''Perissa'' (1925) * ''Orange Street'' (1926) * ''Light over Lundy'' (1938)

Travel books

These include: * ''See England First'' (1927) * ''Do you know North Cornwall? My finest holiday'' (1927 for the Southern Railway) * ''The Cornish Riviera'' (1928 for the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

) * ''Glorious Devon'' (1928 for the Great Western Railway) * ''North Wales'' (1928 for the

London Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally ...

) * ''Sussex'' 1929 * ''It isn't far from London'' (1930) * ''Southern rambles for Londoners'' (1931 for the Southern Railway) * ''The Highlands of Britain'' (1932) * ''This unknown island'' (1932) * ''Week-ends in England'' (1933) * ''Isles of the island'' (1934) * ''England's pleasance'' (1935) * ''Lovely Britain edited'' (1935) * ''Round about England'' (1935) * ''Southern schools'' (1935 for the Southern Railway) * ''Pictorial Britain and Ireland'' (ca1936 for the Anglo-American Oil Co –

Esso Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (from the phon ...

) * ''England's Character'' (1936) * ''A.C.E: the

Atlantic Coast Express The ''Atlantic Coast Express'' (''ACE'') is an express passenger train in England that has operated at various times between London and seaside resorts in the South West England. It is currently operated as a summer only service by Great Wes ...

'' (1937 for the Southern Railway) * ''Britain calling'' (1938) * ''Let's get out here'' (1938 for the Southern Railway) * ''Walking in Somerset'' (1938) * ''Listen to the Country'' (1939) * ''Highways and Byways in the Welsh Marches'' (1939) * ''Hills of the South'' (1939) * ''I Return to Scotland'' (1947) * ''I Return to Switzerland'' (1948) * ''I Return to Ireland'' (1948) * ''I Return to Wales'' (1949) * ''Little England Beyond Wales'' (1949) * ''The Land of The Cinque Ports'' (illus. by

Rowland Hilder Rowland Frederick Hilder OBE (28 June 1905 – 21 April 1993) was an English landscape artist and book illustrator. Early life He was born in New York to Roland and Kitty Hilder (née Fissenden). Following the outbreak of the First Worl ...

) (1949) * ''The Riviera – New Look and Old'' (1950) * ''We Wander in the West'' (1950) * ''Arden and Avon'' (1951) * ''Norwegian Odyssey'' (1951) * ''The Channel Islands'' (1953) * ''Our Village Today'' (1956) * ''Majorcan Holiday'' (with Gillian Mais) (1956)

References

External links

Eugene Suggett: An 80th anniversary
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mais, Petre 1885 births 1975 deaths 20th-century English non-fiction writers English travel writers English broadcasters People from Derbyshire Dales (district) English male non-fiction writers People from Ladywood 20th-century English male writers People from Lindfield, West Sussex Artists' Rifles soldiers