Leo Walmsley Explained

Leo Walmsley
Birth Name:	Lionel Walmsley
Birth Date:	29 September 1892
Birth Place:	Shipley, West Riding of Yorkshire
Death Place:	Fowey, Cornwall
Occupation:	Writer

Leo Walmsley (29 September 1892 – 8 June 1966) was an English writer.^[1] Walmsley was born in Shipley, West Riding of Yorkshire, but brought up in Robin Hood's Bay in the North Riding. Noted for his fictional Bramblewick series, based on Robin Hood's Bay, he fought in the Royal Flying Corps, later the Royal Air Force, in the First World War, being awarded the Military Cross.

Life

He was born Lionel Walmsley,^[2] at 7 Clifton Place, Shipley in the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1892.^[3] Two years later, his family moved to Robin Hood's Bay on the coast of present-day North Yorkshire, where he was schooled at the old Wesleyan chapel and the Scarborough Municipal School.^[4] He was the son of the painter James Ulric Walmsley (1860–1954) who studied under Stanhope Forbes in Cornwall before settling in Robin Hood's Bay.

During the First World War he served as an observer with the Royal Flying Corps in East Africa, was mentioned in dispatches four times and was awarded the Military Cross.^[5] After a plane crash he was sent home, and after some time teaching at the school in Robin Hood's Bay, eventually pursued a literary career.^[6] After the war he left Robin Hood's Bay to work in London where he met his first wife.^[2] Following the end of the marriage he returned to live at Robin Hood's Bay then moved to Wales after the outbreak of World War II. Following the end of his second marriage, he moved to the area of Fowey, Cornwall,^[7] where he settled at Pont Pill near Polruan, where he became friendly with the writer Daphne du Maurier.^[8]

Walmsley was married three times. He married Elsie Susanna Preston in 1919, divorcing her in 1932. Then, in 1933, he married Margaret Bell Little, divorcing her around 1946. His final marriage was to Stephanie Gubbins, in 1955.^[5]

Many of Walmsley's books are mainly autobiographical, the best known being his Bramblewick series set in Robin Hood's Bay, with Whitby appearing as Burnharbour.^[9] His most notable works were Foreigners, Three Fevers, Phantom Lobster and Sally Lunn, the second of which was filmed as Turn of the Tide (1935).^[10] The author's note to Phantom Lobster, states that "There is no secret about Bramblewick. Its latitude and longitude are roughly 54.28.40 north, 0.34.10. west."^[11]

He died in Fowey, Cornwall, on 8 June 1966.^[3] The house he lived in at 21 Passage Street was named "Bramblewick" after his book series.^[12] The house that he lived in on King's Street in Robin Hood's Bay has a blue plaque on the outside.

Bibliography

• 1914 – Guide to the Geology of Whitby and District – Horne (Whitby)
• 1919 – Fossils of the Whitby District – Horne
• 1920 – Flying and Sport in East Africa – Blackwood^[5]
• 1921 – The Silver Blimp – Nelson^[5]
• 1923 – The Lure of Thunder Island – Jenkins^[5]
• 1926 – The Green Rocket – Jenkins^[5]
• 1926 – Toro of the Little People – Hodder & Stoughton^[5]
• 1932 – Three Fevers – Cape^[13]
• 1933 – Phantom Lobster – Cape^[14]
• 1935 – Foreigners – Collins
• 1937 – Sally Lunn – Collins^[5]
• 1939 – Love in the Sun – Collins^[15]
• 1941 – Fishermen at War – Collins^[16]
• 1942 – British Ports and Harbours – Collins^[17]
• 1944 – So Many Loves (autobiography) – Collins^[18]
• 1944 – Sally Lunn (the play) – Collins^[5]
• 1948 – Master Mariner – Collins^[5]
• 1951 – Lancashire and Yorkshire – Collins^[5]
• 1952 – Invisible Cargo – Joseph^[5]
• 1954 – The Golden Waterwheel – Collins^[3]
• 1957 – The Happy Ending – Collins^[5]
• 1959 – Sound of the Sea – Collins^[5]
• 1963 – Paradise Creek – Collins^[3]
• 1965 – Angler's Moon – Hamilton^[19]

Biographies

• 1944 – So Many Loves – Leo Walmsley (autobiography)
• 1991 – The Honey Gatherers – Peter J. Woods
• 1995 – Autumn Gold – Stephanie Walmsley (his widow)
• 2001 – Shells and Bright Stones – Nona Stead (ed.)

References

Sources

• Book: Head . Dominic . Alexander . Neal . Moran . James . Regional Modernisms. . 2013 . Edinburgh University Press . Edinburgh . 9780748669301 . 6: Regionalism and modernity, the case of Leo Walmsley.

External links

• The Walmsley Society

Notes and References

1. Web site: Leo Walmsley. Graham Higson. walmsleysoc.org.
2. Book: Farnill, Barrie. A History of Robin Hood's Bay. 1966 . 1990. republished. North York Moors National Park Information Service. 105. 0-907480-22-5.
3. News: Haley . William . William Haley . Mr Leo Walmsley . The Times . 56656 . 13 June 1966 . 12. 0140-0460.
4. News: Historic Westwood school and former SJT in Scarborough set to become 50 flats . 26 July 2022 . The Scarborough News . 23 April 2021.
5. News: Walmsley . Leo . Air Conditions In Tropical Africa . The Times . 42345 . 27 February 1920 . 16. 0140-0460.
6. Book: Pennock . Richard Pennock . Robin Hood's Bay : as I have known it. . 2002 . Caedmon of Whitby . Whitby . 0905355563 . 62.
7. A History of Robin Hood's Bay, p.107.
8. Book: Dunn . Jane . Daphne Du Maurier and her sisters : the hidden lives of Piffy, Bird and Bing . 2014 . Collins . London . 9780007347094 . 165.
9. Book: White . Andrew . A history of Whitby . 1993 . Phillimore . Chichester, West Sussex . 0-85033-842-5 . 120.
10. News: Whitehouse . Anne . Out and about; a brisk trot in Robin Hood's tracks . The Times . 61967 . 20 October 1984 . 14. 0140-0460.
11. Book: Walmsley . Leo . Phantom Lobster : a true story . 2009 . Walmsley Society . Halifax . 9780953444939 . ix.
12. Web site: Leo Walmsley, author, 1892 – 1966. foweyharbourheritage.co.uk.
13. News: Dawson . Geoffrey . Geoffrey Dawson . New Novels . The Times . 46055 . 12 February 1932 . 18. 0140-0460.
14. News: Dawson . Geoffrey . Geoffrey Dawson . New Novels . The Times . 46601 . 14 November 1933 . 20. 0140-0460.
15. News: Dawson . Geoffrey . Geoffrey Dawson . Some new books . The Times . 48378 . 8 August 1939 . 15. 0140-0460.
16. News: Dawson . Geoffrey . Geoffrey Dawson . In the North Sea. The Times . 49000 . 9 August 1941 . 6. 0140-0460.
17. Book: Orwell . George . All propaganda is lies, 1941-1942 . 2001 . Secker & Warburg . London . 0436404052 . 48.
18. News: Barrington-Ward. Robert . Robert Barrington-Ward . In the North Sea. The Times . 49994 . 17 November 1944 . 7. 0140-0460.
19. News: Haley. William . William Haley . Happy Days and Hard Lines in Little Fishing Boats. The Times . 56416 . 2 September 1965. 5. 0140-0460.