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Beverley Nichols

April 13, 2024

John Beverley Nichols (9 September 1898 – 15 September 1983) was an English writer, playwright and public speaker. He wrote more than 60 books and plays.

Beverley Nichols
Photo portrait, 1963
Born9 September 1898
Bower Ashton, Bristol, England
Died15 September 1983 (1983-09-16) (aged 85)
Kingston upon Thames, England
Resting placeAshes scattered over St Nicholas's Churchyard, Glatton, England[1]
EducationOxford (BA)

Career edit

Between his first book, the novel Prelude (1920), and his last, a book of poetry, Twilight (1982), Nichols wrote more than 60 books. In addition to fiction, essays, theatre scripts and children's books, he wrote non-fiction works on travel, politics, religion, cats, parapsychology, and autobiography. He contributed to many magazines and newspapers throughout his life, notably weekly columns for the London Sunday Chronicle newspaper (1932–1943) and Woman's Own magazine (1946–1967).[2]

Nichols is notable for his books about his homes and gardens, the first of which, Down the Garden Path (1932), was illustrated by Rex Whistler, as were its two sequels. It went through 32 editions and has remained in print almost continuously. The trilogy chronicled the difficulties and delights of maintaining a Tudor thatched cottage in Glatton, Huntingdonshire, the village he fictionalised as Allways. The now Grade II listed house Allways was his home from 1928 to 1937.[3] The books are written in a poetic, richly creative style, evoking emotional and sensual responses, leavened with humour and irony.[4] The three books were so popular that they led to humorous imitations, including Mon Repos (1934) by "Nicholas Bevel" (a parody by Muriel Hine) and Garden Rubbish (1936) by W. C. Sellar and R. J. Yeatman, a satire on garden writers, which included a Nichols-like figure named "Knatchbull Twee."

Nichols' next garden and home book was Green Grows the City (1939), about his modern house and urban garden near Hampstead Heath, London. That book introduced Reginald Arthur Gaskin, Nichols' manservant from 1924 until Gaskin's death in January 1967. Gaskin was a popular character in the book and was included in Nichols' succeeding gardening books.

A second trilogy (1951–1956) began with Merry Hall, documenting Nichols' travails with his extravagant Georgian manor in Agates Lane, Ashtead, Surrey (fictionalised as Meadowstream), where Nichols lived from 1946 to 1956. The books often featured his gifted but laconic gardener "Oldfield". Nichols' final trilogy (1963–1968) chronicled his adapting to a more modest living arrangement, beginning in 1958, in a late 18th-century attached cottage ("Sudbrook") at Ham, near Richmond, Surrey. This was Nichols' final home and garden, where he lived for 25 years until his death in 1983. Illustrations and dust jacket designs for these later volumes were provided by William McLaren.

Nichols wrote on a wide range of subjects, always looking for "the next big thing". He ghostwrote Dame Nellie Melba's 1925 "autobiography" Memories and Melodies (he was at the time her personal secretary, and his 1933 book Evensong was believed to be based on aspects of her life).[5] In 1934, Nichols wrote a bestseller advocating pacifism, Cry Havoc!,[6] but by 1938, he had abandoned his pacifism and supported the Allies in the Second World War.[6] In 1966 he wrote A Case of Human Bondage about the marriage and divorce of writer William Somerset Maugham and his interior-decorator wife, Syrie, which was highly critical of Maugham. He was disappointed by the reception of Powers That Be (1966), a book about spiritualism. Father Figure (1972), in which Nichols described how he tried to murder his alcoholic, abusive father, caused uproar and calls for his prosecution.

Nichols was also a competent mystery writer. His five detective novels (1954–1960) featured a middle-aged private detective of independent means called Horatio Green.

Apart from authorship, Nichols' main interest was gardening, especially garden design and winter flowers. His many acquaintances in all walks of life included some famous gardeners, such as Constance Spry and Lord Aberconway, President of the Royal Horticultural Society and owner of Bodnant Garden in North Wales. In 2009 Timber Press, which have reprinted a number of Nichols' titles, published a book called Rhapsody in Green: The Garden Wit and Wisdom of Beverley Nichols, edited by Roy C. Dicks.

Nichols made one film appearance, in Glamour (1931), directed by Seymour Hicks and Harry Hughes, playing the small part of the Hon. Richard Wells. The film is now lost.

Personal life edit

Nichols was at school at Marlborough College before proceeding to Balliol College, Oxford in January 1917. His education was interrupted by military service with the Intelligence section at the War Office, as an instructor to an Officer Cadet Battalion in Cambridge, and as aide-de-camp to Arthur Shipley on the British University Mission to the United States. Nichols then returned to Oxford, where he was President of the Oxford Union and editor of Isis.[2] In 1920 he passed the Shortened Honours degree in Modern History.[7]

He was homosexual and probably had a brief affair with the war poet Siegfried Sassoon, according to a Sassoon biographer.[8] Nichols' long-term companion was Cyril Butcher, the main beneficiary of Nichols' will, amounting to £131,750.[9]

Nichols died on 15 September 1983 and his ashes were scattered over St Nicholas' Churchyard, Glatton, Cambridgeshire, England.

Selected bibliography edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Beverley Nichols the Author at his Thatched Cottage in Glatton". Sawtry Cambridgeshire Community Archive Network. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  2. ^ a b Connon, Bryan (1991). Beverley Nichols: A Life. Constable. ISBN 1604690445.
  3. ^ Historic England. "Allways (Grade II) (1215420)". National Heritage List for England.
  4. ^ Down the Garden Path (1932) ISBN 978-0-88192-710-8
  5. ^ "The Mercury (Hobart) 5 December 1934". Mercury. Trove.nla.gov.au. 5 December 1934. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  6. ^ a b Martin Ceadel, Pacifism in Britain, 1914–1945 : the defining of a faith. Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1980. ISBN 0198218826 (p.239).
  7. ^ 'Oxford University Calendar 1925', Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1925: 222
  8. ^ Jean Moorcroft Wilson (2003). Siegfried Sassoon: The Journey from the Trenches: a Biography (1918-1967). Psychology Press. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-415-96713-6.
  9. ^ "Beverley Nichols' will – Sunday 22 January 1984, p. 5". The Observer: 5. 1984. Retrieved 23 January 2018.

External links edit

  • Beverley Nichols papers, held at University of Delaware
  • Beverley Nichols Collection at the Harry Ransom Center
  • Beverley Nichols: Conserving Moments from His 'Strange and Lovely Life' (online exhibition), at the University of Delaware
  • Works by Beverley Nichols at Project Gutenberg
  • Works by or about Beverley Nichols at Internet Archive
  • Beverley Nichols at Library of Congress, with 120 library catalogue records

April 13, 2024
beverley, nichols, john, september, 1898, september, 1983, english, writer, playwright, public, speaker, wrote, more, than, books, plays, photo, portrait, 1963born9, september, 1898bower, ashton, bristol, englanddied15, september, 1983, 1983, aged, kingston, u. John Beverley Nichols 9 September 1898 15 September 1983 was an English writer playwright and public speaker He wrote more than 60 books and plays Beverley NicholsPhoto portrait 1963Born9 September 1898Bower Ashton Bristol EnglandDied15 September 1983 1983 09 16 aged 85 Kingston upon Thames EnglandResting placeAshes scattered over St Nicholas s Churchyard Glatton England 1 EducationOxford BA Contents 1 Career 2 Personal life 3 Selected bibliography 3 1 Essays and journalism 3 2 Gardening homes and restoration 3 3 Novels 3 4 Mysteries 3 5 Cats 3 6 Religion 3 7 Spiritualism 3 8 Humour 3 9 Plays and poetry 3 10 Autobiographies 3 11 Biography 3 12 Children s books 3 13 Travel 3 14 In collaboration 4 References 5 External linksCareer editBetween his first book the novel Prelude 1920 and his last a book of poetry Twilight 1982 Nichols wrote more than 60 books In addition to fiction essays theatre scripts and children s books he wrote non fiction works on travel politics religion cats parapsychology and autobiography He contributed to many magazines and newspapers throughout his life notably weekly columns for the London Sunday Chronicle newspaper 1932 1943 and Woman s Own magazine 1946 1967 2 Nichols is notable for his books about his homes and gardens the first of which Down the Garden Path 1932 was illustrated by Rex Whistler as were its two sequels It went through 32 editions and has remained in print almost continuously The trilogy chronicled the difficulties and delights of maintaining a Tudor thatched cottage in Glatton Huntingdonshire the village he fictionalised as Allways The now Grade II listed house Allways was his home from 1928 to 1937 3 The books are written in a poetic richly creative style evoking emotional and sensual responses leavened with humour and irony 4 The three books were so popular that they led to humorous imitations including Mon Repos 1934 by Nicholas Bevel a parody by Muriel Hine and Garden Rubbish 1936 by W C Sellar and R J Yeatman a satire on garden writers which included a Nichols like figure named Knatchbull Twee Nichols next garden and home book was Green Grows the City 1939 about his modern house and urban garden near Hampstead Heath London That book introduced Reginald Arthur Gaskin Nichols manservant from 1924 until Gaskin s death in January 1967 Gaskin was a popular character in the book and was included in Nichols succeeding gardening books A second trilogy 1951 1956 began with Merry Hall documenting Nichols travails with his extravagant Georgian manor in Agates Lane Ashtead Surrey fictionalised as Meadowstream where Nichols lived from 1946 to 1956 The books often featured his gifted but laconic gardener Oldfield Nichols final trilogy 1963 1968 chronicled his adapting to a more modest living arrangement beginning in 1958 in a late 18th century attached cottage Sudbrook at Ham near Richmond Surrey This was Nichols final home and garden where he lived for 25 years until his death in 1983 Illustrations and dust jacket designs for these later volumes were provided by William McLaren Nichols wrote on a wide range of subjects always looking for the next big thing He ghostwrote Dame Nellie Melba s 1925 autobiography Memories and Melodies he was at the time her personal secretary and his 1933 book Evensong was believed to be based on aspects of her life 5 In 1934 Nichols wrote a bestseller advocating pacifism Cry Havoc 6 but by 1938 he had abandoned his pacifism and supported the Allies in the Second World War 6 In 1966 he wrote A Case of Human Bondage about the marriage and divorce of writer William Somerset Maugham and his interior decorator wife Syrie which was highly critical of Maugham He was disappointed by the reception of Powers That Be 1966 a book about spiritualism Father Figure 1972 in which Nichols described how he tried to murder his alcoholic abusive father caused uproar and calls for his prosecution Nichols was also a competent mystery writer His five detective novels 1954 1960 featured a middle aged private detective of independent means called Horatio Green Apart from authorship Nichols main interest was gardening especially garden design and winter flowers His many acquaintances in all walks of life included some famous gardeners such as Constance Spry and Lord Aberconway President of the Royal Horticultural Society and owner of Bodnant Garden in North Wales In 2009 Timber Press which have reprinted a number of Nichols titles published a book called Rhapsody in Green The Garden Wit and Wisdom of Beverley Nichols edited by Roy C Dicks Nichols made one film appearance in Glamour 1931 directed by Seymour Hicks and Harry Hughes playing the small part of the Hon Richard Wells The film is now lost Personal life editNichols was at school at Marlborough College before proceeding to Balliol College Oxford in January 1917 His education was interrupted by military service with the Intelligence section at the War Office as an instructor to an Officer Cadet Battalion in Cambridge and as aide de camp to Arthur Shipley on the British University Mission to the United States Nichols then returned to Oxford where he was President of the Oxford Union and editor of Isis 2 In 1920 he passed the Shortened Honours degree in Modern History 7 He was homosexual and probably had a brief affair with the war poet Siegfried Sassoon according to a Sassoon biographer 8 Nichols long term companion was Cyril Butcher the main beneficiary of Nichols will amounting to 131 750 9 Nichols died on 15 September 1983 and his ashes were scattered over St Nicholas Churchyard Glatton Cambridgeshire England Selected bibliography editEssays and journalism edit Are They The Same at Home Being a Series of Bouquets Diffidently Distributed 1927 The Star Spangled Manner 1928 Women and Children Last 1931 For Adults Only 1932 Cry Havoc 1933 News of England or a Country Without a Hero 1938 Verdict on India 1944 Men Do Not Weep 1941 Uncle Samson 1950 The Queen s Coronation Day The Pictorial Record of the Great Occasion 1953 Gardening homes and restoration edit Down the Garden Path 1932 ISBN 978 0 88192 710 8 A Thatched Roof 1933 ISBN 978 0 88192 728 3 A Village in a Valley 1934 ISBN 978 0 88192 729 0 How Does Your Garden Grow 1935 Green Grows the City The Story of a London Garden 1939 ISBN 978 0 88192 779 5 Merry Hall 1951 ISBN 978 0 88192 804 4 Laughter on the Stairs 1953 ISBN 978 0 88192 460 2 Sunlight on the Lawn 1956 ISBN 978 0 88192 467 1 Garden Open Today 1963 ISBN 978 0 88192 533 3 Forty Favourite Flowers 1964 The Art of Flower Arrangement 1967 Garden Open Tomorrow 1968 ISBN 978 0 88192 552 4 The Gift of a Garden or Some Flowers Remembered 1971 Novels edit Prelude 1920 reprinted in 2007 ISBN 0 548 75213 3 Patchwork 1921 Self 1922 Crazy Pavements 1927 Evensong 1932 filmed in 1934 Revue 1939 Mysteries edit No Man s Street 1954 The Moonflower 1955 a k a The Moonflower Murder Death to Slow Music 1956 The Rich Die Hard 1957 Murder by Request 1960 Cats edit Beverley Nichols Cat Book 1955 Beverley Nichols Cats A B C 1960 Beverley Nichols Cats X Y Z 1961 Cats A Z 1977 Religion edit The Fool Hath Said 1936 A Pilgrim s Progress 1952 Spiritualism edit Powers That Be 1966 Humour edit The Valet as Historian 1934 Plays and poetry edit Failures Three Plays 1933 The Stag produced 1929 Avalanche produced 1931 When the Crash Comes produced 1933 Evensong produced 1932 published 1933 A Book of Old Ballads editor 1934 with illustrations by H M Brock Mesmer produced 1935 published 1937 Shadow of the Vine published 1949 produced 1954 Twilight First and Probably Last Poems 1982 Autobiographies edit 25 Being a Young Man s Candid Recollections of his Elders and Betters 1926 also titled Twenty Five All I Could Never Be Some Recollections 1949 The Sweet and Twenties 1958 Father Figure 1972 Down the Kitchen Sink 1974 The Unforgiving Minute Some Confessions from Childhood to the Outbreak of the Second World War 1978 Biography edit A Case of Human Bondage The Tragic Marriage of Somerset Maugham 1966 Children s books edit The Tree that Sat Down 1945 The Stream that Stood Still 1948 The Mountain of Magic 1950 The Wickedest Witch in the World 1971 Travel edit No Place Like Home 1936 The Sun in My Eyes or How Not to Go Around the World 1969 In collaboration edit Butcher Cyril In Extremis Worst Moments in the Lives of the Famous 1934 with a foreword by Beverley Nichols Yours Sincerely 1947 in collaboration with Monica DickensReferences edit Beverley Nichols the Author at his Thatched Cottage in Glatton Sawtry Cambridgeshire Community Archive Network Retrieved 1 May 2019 a b Connon Bryan 1991 Beverley Nichols A Life Constable ISBN 1604690445 Historic England Allways Grade II 1215420 National Heritage List for England Down the Garden Path 1932 ISBN 978 0 88192 710 8 The Mercury Hobart 5 December 1934 Mercury Trove nla gov au 5 December 1934 Retrieved 4 December 2013 a b Martin Ceadel Pacifism in Britain 1914 1945 the defining of a faith Oxford Clarendon Press 1980 ISBN 0198218826 p 239 Oxford University Calendar 1925 Oxford Clarendon Press 1925 222 Jean Moorcroft Wilson 2003 Siegfried Sassoon The Journey from the Trenches a Biography 1918 1967 Psychology Press p 42 ISBN 978 0 415 96713 6 Beverley Nichols will Sunday 22 January 1984 p 5 The Observer 5 1984 Retrieved 23 January 2018 External links editBeverley Nichols papers held at University of Delaware Beverley Nichols Collection at the Harry Ransom Center Beverley Nichols Conserving Moments from His Strange and Lovely Life online exhibition at the University of Delaware Works by Beverley Nichols at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Beverley Nichols at Internet Archive Beverley Nichols at Library of Congress with 120 library catalogue records Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Beverley Nichols amp oldid 1215587299, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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