Trevor Ramsey Villiers Blakemore (13 October 1879 – 8 July 1953) was an English poet and author.

Early life

Born in

Chislehurst Chislehurst () is a suburban district of south-east London, England, in the London Borough of Bromley. It lies east of Bromley, south-west of Sidcup and north-west of Orpington, south-east of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, Blakemore was the son of Ramsey Blakemore, a merchant, of

St Leonards-on-Sea St Leonards-on-Sea (commonly known as St Leonards) is a town and seaside resort in the borough of Hastings in East Sussex, England. It has been part of the borough since the late 19th century and lies to the west of central Hastings. The origin ...

,"BLAKEMORE, Trevor Ramsey" in

John Archibald Venn John Archibald Venn (10 November 1883 – 15 March 1958) was a British economist. He was President of Queens' College, Cambridge, from 1932 until his death, Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University 1941–1943, university archivist, and a ...

, ''Alumni Cantabrigienses; a biographical list of all known students, graduates and holders of office at the University of Cambridge, from the earliest times to 1900'' (Cambridge, University Press), Volume 1, Part 2
p. 290
/ref> and Anna Maria Elizabeth Baynes, who had married at

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

in 1867. He had an older sister, Ethel Agnes Annette, born about 1872. His father died in 1891. He was educated at Hurst Court School, Hastings, Wellington College, and

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and ...

, where he was admitted on 1 October 1897 and graduated BA in 1900.

Career

Apart from his work as a poet, Blakemore was the author of a biography of the painter Herbert Schmalz, published in 1911. In the 1920s, Blakemore spent part of his life on

Sark Sark (Sercquiais: or , ) is an island in the southwestern English Channel, off the coast of Normandy, and part of the archipelago of the Channel Islands. It is a self-governing British Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency, with its own set o ...

in the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...

, and much of his poetry was inspired by the island.Vivien Noakes, ''Isaac Rosenberg: 21st-Century Oxford Authors'' (2008), p. 428 In the 1930s, Blakemore was a member of the selection committee of the

Right Book Club The Right Book Club was an English book club founded in 1937 by Christina and William Foyle to counter the influential Left Book Club, established in 1936 by Victor Gollancz. Origins and character In May 1936, the Left Book Club had been esta ...

, with Anthony Ludovici,

Norman Thwaites Norman Graham Thwaites CBE MVO MC (1872–1956) was a British soldier, intelligence officer, foreign correspondent, editor, and diplomat. Born in Birmingham, Thwaites was the son of the Rev. Henry Graham Thwaites, a Church of England clergyman, ...

Collinson Owen Harry Collinson Owen (1882–1956) was a British journalist and author. Background During World War I he edited the British Army newspaper '' Balkan News'', for the Balkan front. He published ''Salonica and After'' in 1919, a book containing p ...

, and W. A. Foyle. In 1955, after Blakemore’s death, ''Poems by Trevor Blakemore'' was published by

Neville Spearman Neville Spearman Armstrong (20 October 1913 – September 2008) was a British soldier, literary agent, and publisher. In the 1940s and early 1950s he was in partnerships with others, then from 1955 he operated his own publishing company called N ...

, edited by

Robert Gittings Robert William Victor Gittings CBE (1 February 1911 – 18 February 1992), was an English writer, biographer, BBC Radio producer, playwright and poet. In 1978, he was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for ''The Older Hardy''. Early life ...

and Ann Blakemore, with a foreword by Sir Compton Mackenzie.Robert Gittings, “Introduction”, and Compton Mackenzie, “Foreword”, in death, ''Poems by Trevor Blakemore'' (London: Neville Spearman, 1955), pp. 5–8

Personal life

In 1911, Blakemore was living in Devonshire Terrace,

Lancaster Gate Lancaster Gate is a mid-19th century development in the Bayswater district of central London, immediately to the north of Kensington Gardens. History It consists of two long terraces of houses overlooking the park, with a wide gap between t ...

, London W2, with his widowed mother, an older sister, and three servants.

1911 United Kingdom census The United Kingdom Census 1911 of 2 April 1911 was the 12th nationwide census conducted in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The total population of the United Kingdom was approximately 45,221,000, with 36,070,000 recorded in England ...

4, Devonshire Terrace, London W2
ancestry.co.uk, accessed 23 July 2021 His mother died in 1928, and his sister in 1947. In 1947, Blakemore married Ann Florence May Driver, whom he had known since 1932. At the time of his death, in 1953, they were living at 4, Devonshire Terrace, where he died. He left a

personal estate Personal property is property that is movable. In common law systems, personal property may also be called chattels or personalty. In civil law (legal system), civil law systems, personal property is often called movable property or movables—a ...

valued at £62,728, . In his introduction to ''Poems by Trevor Blakemore'' , Compton Mackenzie said: In the

1958 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1958 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to the ''Lon ...

, Blakemore's widow was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to the musical education of children.''The London Gazette'', Issue 41268, 31 December 1957 (Supplement)
p. 16
"Miss Ann Florence May Driver (Mrs. Trevor Blakemore). For services to the musical education of children."

Publications

*Trevor Blakemore, ''The art of Herbert Schmalz : with monographs on certain pictures by various writers, and 64 illustrations'' (London: George Allen, 1911)Trevor Blakemore
royalacademy.org.uk, accessed 23 July 2021 *Trevor Blakemore, ''Poems And Ballads'' (London: Elkin Mathews, 1912) *Trevor Blakemore, ''The Flagship and Other Poems'' (London: Erskine MacDonald, 1915) * Trevor Blakemore, ''China Clay'', illustrated by Molly MacArthur (W. Heffer & Sons, 1922) * Trevor Blakemore, ''Moonset and Other Poems'' (London: Elkin Mathews, 1924) *Trevor Blakemore, ''Elementals'' (London: W. & G. Foyle, 1935) *William Alwyn, ''3 Songs to Words by Trevor Blakemore'' (1940) *''The Ballades of Trevor Blakemore'' (1955) *''Poems by Trevor Blakemore'', with foreword by Compton Mackenzie (London: Neville Spearman, 1955)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blakemore, Trevor Ramsey Villiers 1879 births 1953 deaths 20th-century English poets Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire