Maurice Hewlett Explained

Maurice Henry Hewlett (1861 – 15 June 1923) was an English historical novelist, poet and essayist.[1]

Biography

He was born at Weybridge, the eldest son of Henry Gay Hewlett, of Shaw Hall, Addington, Kent. He was educated at the London International College, Spring Grove, Isleworth, and was called to the bar in 1891. He gave up the law after the success of The Forest Lovers. From 1896 to 1901 he was Keeper of Lands, Revenues, Records and Enrolments, a government post as adviser on matters of medieval law.

Hewlett married Hilda Beatrice Herbert on 3 January 1888 in St Peter's Church, Vauxhall, where her father was the incumbent vicar. The couple had two children, a daughter, Pia, and a son, Francis, but separated in 1914, partly due to Hilda's increasing interest in aviation. In 1911, Hilda had become the first woman in the UK to gain a pilot's licence.[2]

He settled at Broad Chalke, Wiltshire. His friends included Evelyn Underhill, and Ezra Pound, whom he met at the Poets' Club in London. He was also a friend of J. M. Barrie, who named one of the pirates in Peter Pan "Cecco" after Hewlett's son.

Hewlett's 1900 novel The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay, about Richard the Lionheart, was a favourite novel of T. E. Lawrence. Lawrence said he had read The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay several times.[3] Another of Hewlett's historical novels was The Queen's Quair (1904), about Mary, Queen of Scots. The Queen's Quair was cited as an influence by Ford Madox Ford, who said that The Queen's Quair "taught me a good deal".[4] Hewlett also wrote six novels based on the Icelandic Family sagas, these include The Light Heart and Thorgils of Treadholt. Hewlett also wrote The Outlaw (based on Gisli's Saga), A Lover's Tale (based on Kormak's Saga), Frey and His Wife (based on Ogmund Dytt's tale), and Gudred the Fair (based on the Greenland sagas).[5]

Hewlett was parodied by Max Beerbohm in A Christmas Garland in the part titled "Fond Hearts Askew".

Hewlett's brother Henry William Hewlett was also a published novelist, writing under the name William Hewlett.[6]

Maurice Hewlett died in London on 15 June 1923 at age 62.[7]

Works

Filmography

References

This list omits some significant works. He wrote six novels based on the Icelandic Family sagas, of which only The Light Heart and Thorgils of Treadholt are mentioned above. There is also The Outlaw (based on Gisli's Saga), A Lover's Tale (based on Kormak's Saga), Frey and His Wife (based on Ogmund Dytt's tale), and Gudred the Fair (based on the Greenland sagas).

External links

Notes and References

  1. Harris, George William. The Work of Maurice Hewlett. The American Review of Reviews. 1909. 40. 251–252.
  2. http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/milestones-of-flight/british_civil/1911.cfm British Civil Aviation in 1911
  3. "He (Lawrence) studied medieval writings such as the chansons de geste, and also enjoyed historical romances about the Middle Ages, reading Maurice Hewlett's Richard Yea and Nay over and over again..." Wilson, Jeremy, Atheneum, 1990. (p.52).
  4. Wiesenfarth, Joseph, History and Representation in Ford Madox Ford's Writings. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2004 (p.112).
  5. Sutherland, Brice, Maurice Hewlett: A Bibliography. Boston : F.W. Faxon Company, 1935. (p. 5)
  6. Kemp, Sandra, Edwardian Fiction: An Oxford Companion. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997. (p. 182)
  7. News: Maurice Hewlett, British Novelist Dies in London . . London . 33 . 1923-06-17 . 2019-12-30 . Newspapers.com.
  8. Sutherland, Brice, Maurice Hewlett: A Bibliography. Boston : F.W. Faxon Company, 1935. (p. 7)

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