John Hampson (novelist)
Encyclopedia
John Frederick Norman Hampson Simpson (26 March 1901 - 26 December 1955), who wrote as John Hampson, was an English
novelist.
Best known for his 1931 novel Saturday Night at the Greyhound - an unexpected critical and commercial success for the Hogarth Press
- he was a member of the Birmingham Group
of working class
authors which included Walter Allen
, Leslie Halward
and Peter Chamberlain.
in Birmingham
, the fifth of eight children of a prosperous and prominent family who had made their money in brewing
and the theatre
. The collapse of the family business in 1907 left them in financial difficulties, however, and they moved to Leicester
where Hampson's parents found work in a variety of less prestigious occupations. Unable to complete his formal education due to ill health, Hampson worked in a munitions factory during World War I
and spent the following years working in a variety of jobs in Nottingham
and Derbyshire
, including working as a waiter
, a chef
and a billiard-marker
, and running a pub with his sister. A conviction for shoplifting
books saw him serve a prison term in Wormwood Scrubs
.
In 1925 he was offered employment by a wealthy family in Dorridge
, Solihull
to act as a residential nurse and companion for their son Ronald, who had Downs Syndrome. The security this provided enabled him to start writing, and he made a number of literary friends including Forrest Reid
, J. R. Ackerley
, William Plomer
, John Lehmann
, and E. M. Forster
.
On Plomer's advice Hampson sent three manuscripts to Leonard
and Virginia Woolf
's Hogarth Press
. Despite considering the longer O Providence "much the better book", they selected Saturday Night at the Greyhound as most suitable as a first publication. The third manuscript Go Seek a Stranger, the first novel Hampson had written, was to remain unpublished due to its explicit homosexual
subject-matter, though Virginia Woolf later remarked "I still think his first purely sodomitic novel the best".
Although they considered Hampson a good writer the Woolfs had been pessimistic about his commercial potential, but Saturday Night at the Greyhound was to prove a success both critically and in terms of sales - quickly selling out its first print run and being reprinted twice in its first six months. Its later paperback edition by Penguin Books
sold 80,000 copies, and it was republished again in 1950 and 1986. His short stories were published in prestigious literary magazines throughout the 1930s but his second published novel O Providence sold less well than his first, and his next - Foreign English, based on his 1931 trip to Berlin - was rejected by the Hogarth Press, whom he subsequently left for Heinemann
. He was to publish five more novels, but none matched the success of his first.
In 1933, through the American critic Edward J. O'Brien
, Hampson met Walter Allen
and the other writers who came to be known as the Birmingham Group
including Leslie Halward
, Peter Chamberlain and Walter Brierley
, whose novel Means Test Man Hampson provided assistance with. He became a committed anti-Nazi following a visit to Berlin
in 1933, and in 1936, at the suggestion of W. H. Auden
, he married the German
actress Therese Giehse
so that she could obtain a British passport and escape from Nazi Germany
.
He worked for the BBC
during World War II
and visited India
in 1948, but the death of his employer in 1955 saw him leave the house in Dorridge, and he died of a heart attack
on 26 December.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
novelist.
Best known for his 1931 novel Saturday Night at the Greyhound - an unexpected critical and commercial success for the Hogarth Press
Hogarth Press
The Hogarth Press was founded in 1917 by Leonard Woolf and Virginia Woolf. It was named after their house in Richmond, in which they began hand-printing books....
- he was a member of the Birmingham Group
Birmingham Group (authors)
The Birmingham Group was a group of authors writing from the 1930s to the 1950s in and around Birmingham, England. Members included John Hampson, Walter Allen, Peter Chamberlain, Leslie Halward and Walter Brierley....
of working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
authors which included Walter Allen
Walter Allen
Walter Ernest Allen was an English literary critic and novelist. He is best known for his classic study The English Novel: a Short Critical History ....
, Leslie Halward
Leslie Halward
Leslie Halward was a British writer best known for his short stories and plays.His autobiography covering the time from his childhood to settling down to married life as a writer in the small village of Guarlford was published by Michael Joseph Ltd .After wartime service at RAF Defford he turned...
and Peter Chamberlain.
Life
Hampson was born in HandsworthHandsworth, West Midlands
Handsworth is an inner city area of Birmingham in the West Midlands, England. The Local Government Act 1894 divided the ancient Staffordshire parish of Handsworth into two urban districts: Handsworth and Perry Barr. Handsworth was annexed to the county borough of Birmingham in Warwickshire in 1911...
in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, the fifth of eight children of a prosperous and prominent family who had made their money in brewing
Brewing
Brewing is the production of beer through steeping a starch source in water and then fermenting with yeast. Brewing has taken place since around the 6th millennium BCE, and archeological evidence suggests that this technique was used in ancient Egypt...
and the theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
. The collapse of the family business in 1907 left them in financial difficulties, however, and they moved to Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
where Hampson's parents found work in a variety of less prestigious occupations. Unable to complete his formal education due to ill health, Hampson worked in a munitions factory during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and spent the following years working in a variety of jobs in Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
and Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
, including working as a waiter
Waiter
Waiting staff, wait staff, or waitstaff are those who work at a restaurant or a bar attending customers — supplying them with food and drink as requested. Traditionally, a male waiting tables is called a "waiter" and a female a "waitress" with the gender-neutral version being a "server"...
, a chef
Chef
A chef is a person who cooks professionally for other people. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who cooks for a living, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation.-Etymology:The word "chef" is borrowed ...
and a billiard-marker
English billiards
English billiards, called simply billiards in many former British colonies and in Great Britain where it originated, is a hybrid form of carom and pocket billiards played on a billiard table. Billiards is less well known as "the English game", "the all-in game" and "the common game".The game is for...
, and running a pub with his sister. A conviction for shoplifting
Shoplifting
Shoplifting is theft of goods from a retail establishment. It is one of the most common property crimes dealt with by police and courts....
books saw him serve a prison term in Wormwood Scrubs
Wormwood Scrubs (HM Prison)
HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs is a Category B men's prison, located in the Wormwood Scrubs area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, in inner west London, England. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service....
.
In 1925 he was offered employment by a wealthy family in Dorridge
Dorridge
Dorridge is a village in the West Midlands borough of Solihull, England, with a population of 7800.-Location:Dorridge is to the East of the M40 and the South of the M42 which, along with a small but important green belt area, separates Dorridge and its neighbours of Knowle and Bentley Heath from...
, Solihull
Solihull
Solihull is a town in the West Midlands of England with a population of 94,753. It is a part of the West Midlands conurbation and is located 9 miles southeast of Birmingham city centre...
to act as a residential nurse and companion for their son Ronald, who had Downs Syndrome. The security this provided enabled him to start writing, and he made a number of literary friends including Forrest Reid
Forrest Reid
Forrest Reid was an Irish novelist, literary critic and translator. He was, along with Hugh Walpole and J.M. Barrie, a leading pre-war British novelist of boyhood...
, J. R. Ackerley
J. R. Ackerley
J. R. Ackerley was arts editor of The Listener, the weekly magazine of the BBC...
, William Plomer
William Plomer
William Charles Franklyn Plomer CBE was a South African author, known as a novelist, poet and literary editor. He was educated mostly in the United Kingdom...
, John Lehmann
John Lehmann
Rudolf John Frederick Lehmann was an English poet and man of letters, and one of the foremost literary editors of the twentieth century, founding the periodicals New Writing and The London Magazine.The fourth child of journalist Rudolph Lehmann, and brother of Helen Lehmann, novelist Rosamond...
, and E. M. Forster
E. M. Forster
Edward Morgan Forster OM, CH was an English novelist, short story writer, essayist and librettist. He is known best for his ironic and well-plotted novels examining class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th-century British society...
.
On Plomer's advice Hampson sent three manuscripts to Leonard
Leonard Woolf
Leonard Sidney Woolf was an English political theorist, author, publisher and civil servant, and husband of author Virginia Woolf.-Early life:...
and Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf
Adeline Virginia Woolf was an English author, essayist, publisher, and writer of short stories, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century....
's Hogarth Press
Hogarth Press
The Hogarth Press was founded in 1917 by Leonard Woolf and Virginia Woolf. It was named after their house in Richmond, in which they began hand-printing books....
. Despite considering the longer O Providence "much the better book", they selected Saturday Night at the Greyhound as most suitable as a first publication. The third manuscript Go Seek a Stranger, the first novel Hampson had written, was to remain unpublished due to its explicit homosexual
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
subject-matter, though Virginia Woolf later remarked "I still think his first purely sodomitic novel the best".
Although they considered Hampson a good writer the Woolfs had been pessimistic about his commercial potential, but Saturday Night at the Greyhound was to prove a success both critically and in terms of sales - quickly selling out its first print run and being reprinted twice in its first six months. Its later paperback edition by Penguin Books
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...
sold 80,000 copies, and it was republished again in 1950 and 1986. His short stories were published in prestigious literary magazines throughout the 1930s but his second published novel O Providence sold less well than his first, and his next - Foreign English, based on his 1931 trip to Berlin - was rejected by the Hogarth Press, whom he subsequently left for Heinemann
Heinemann (book publisher)
Heinemann is a UK publishing house founded by William Heinemann in Covent Garden, London in 1890. On William Heinemann's death in 1920 a majority stake was purchased by U.S. publisher Doubleday. It was later acquired by commemorate Thomas Tilling in 1961...
. He was to publish five more novels, but none matched the success of his first.
In 1933, through the American critic Edward J. O'Brien
Edward Joseph Harrington O'Brien
Edward Joseph Harrington O'Brien was a U.S. author, poet, editor and anthologist.He was noted for compiling an annual collection of short stories by U.S. authors, The Best American Short Stories.-External links:...
, Hampson met Walter Allen
Walter Allen
Walter Ernest Allen was an English literary critic and novelist. He is best known for his classic study The English Novel: a Short Critical History ....
and the other writers who came to be known as the Birmingham Group
Birmingham Group (authors)
The Birmingham Group was a group of authors writing from the 1930s to the 1950s in and around Birmingham, England. Members included John Hampson, Walter Allen, Peter Chamberlain, Leslie Halward and Walter Brierley....
including Leslie Halward
Leslie Halward
Leslie Halward was a British writer best known for his short stories and plays.His autobiography covering the time from his childhood to settling down to married life as a writer in the small village of Guarlford was published by Michael Joseph Ltd .After wartime service at RAF Defford he turned...
, Peter Chamberlain and Walter Brierley
Walter Brierley
Walter Henry Brierley was a York architect whopractised in the city for 40 years. He is known as "the Yorkshire Lutyens".He is also credited with being an exponent of the "Wrenaissance" style - incorporating elements of Christopher Wren....
, whose novel Means Test Man Hampson provided assistance with. He became a committed anti-Nazi following a visit to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
in 1933, and in 1936, at the suggestion of W. H. Auden
W. H. Auden
Wystan Hugh Auden , who published as W. H. Auden, was an Anglo-American poet,The first definition of "Anglo-American" in the OED is: "Of, belonging to, or involving both England and America." See also the definition "English in origin or birth, American by settlement or citizenship" in See also...
, he married the German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
actress Therese Giehse
Therese Giehse
Therese Giehse , born Therese Gift, was a distinguished German actress. Born in Munich to German-Jewish parents, she first appeared on the stage in 1920. She became a major star on stage, in films, and in political cabaret...
so that she could obtain a British passport and escape from Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
.
He worked for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and visited India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
in 1948, but the death of his employer in 1955 saw him leave the house in Dorridge, and he died of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
on 26 December.