Winston Graham
Encyclopedia
Winston Mawdsley Graham OBE
(30 June 1908 – 10 July 2003) was an English
novelist, best known for the The Poldark Novel
series of historical fiction
.
, England. When he was 17 years old he relocated to Perranporth
, Cornwall
. His first novel, The House with the Stained Glass Windows was published in 1934; his first Poldark novel, Ross Poldark, was published in 1945, and was succeeded by a series of eleven further titles, the last of which, Bella Poldark, was published in 2002. The series was set in Cornwall, especially in and near Perranporth, where Graham spent much of his life. The first seven Poldark novels were turned into a BBC
television series first broadcast in the UK between 1975 and 1977 which gained audiences of about 14 million viewers. It was so successful that some vicars rescheduled or cancelled church services rather than try to have them clash with the transmission of the Poldark
series.
Other than the Poldark novels, Graham's most successful work was Marnie
(1964), a thriller filmed by Alfred Hitchcock
with Tippi Hedren
and Sean Connery
in the leads. The novel was also adapted as a play by Sean O'Connor (producer)
in 2001 and returned the story to its original British setting and bleak ending. Five of Graham's other books were filmed, including The Walking Stick, Night Without Stars and Take My Life.
Graham was an accomplished author of suspense novels and during the course of his life wrote nearly thirty novels (in addition to the twelve Poldark books). A 1941 spy thriller Night Journey set in the contemporary Nazi-occupied Europe captures some of the spirit of the time, with the protagonist believing that Britain was perhaps going to lose the war but is determined to "go down fighting". Graham also wrote a history of The Spanish Armadas and an historical novel, The Grove of Eagles, set in that period. (The plural "Armadas" refers to a lesser-known second attempt by Philip II of Spain
to conquer England in 1598, which Graham argued was better planned and organised than the famous one of 1588 but was foiled by a fierce storm scattering the Spanish ships and sinking many of them).
He married Jean Williamson in September 1939, having first met her in 1926 when she was 13 years old. She died in December 1992. During his youth he was a keen tennis player, recording in his diaries how many sets he played each day. He lived in Perranporth from 1925 until 1959, briefly in the south of France during 1960 and then settled in East Sussex. He was Chairman of the Society of Authors
and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
, and in 1983 was honoured with the Order of the British Empire.
Graham's autobiography, Memoirs of a Private Man, was published by Macmillan
in 2003. To celebrate the centenary of his birth, the Royal Cornwall Museum
in Truro
, Cornwall
, had an exhibition devoted to his life and works (Poldark's Cornwall: The life and times of Winston Graham) from mid-June to mid-September 2008, coinciding with re-publication of the Poldark novels by Pan Macmillan.
The Winston Graham Historical Prize was initiated as part of the Centenary Celebrations. Funded by a legacy from the author and supported by Pan Macmillan it is for a work of unpublished fiction, preferably with an association with Cornwall. Details can be obtained from the Royal Cornwall Museum
.
The majority of Winston Graham's manuscripts and papers have been donated to the Royal Institute of Cornwall by his son Andrew Graham (academic)
and daughter Rosamund Barteau. Further papers are housed at the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center at Boston University.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(30 June 1908 – 10 July 2003) was an English
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 the The Poldark Novel
The Poldark Novels
The Poldark Novels are a historical fictional sequence by Winston Graham.The main character, Ross Poldark, a British Army officer, returns to his home in Cornwall from the American Revolutionary War only to find that his fiancée, Elizabeth Chynoweth, having believed him dead, is about to marry his...
series of historical fiction
Historical novel
According to Encyclopædia Britannica, a historical novel is-Development:An early example of historical prose fiction is Luó Guànzhōng's 14th century Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which covers one of the most important periods of Chinese history and left a lasting impact on Chinese culture.The...
.
Biography
Graham was born in Victoria Park, ManchesterVictoria Park, Manchester
Victoria Park is an suburban area of Manchester, England. Victoria Park lies approximately 3 kilometres south of Manchester city centre, between Rusholme and Longsight.It is east of Wilmslow Road and west of Anson Road.-History and description:...
, England. When he was 17 years old he relocated to Perranporth
Perranporth
Perranporth is a small seaside resort on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is southwest of Newquay and northwest of Truro. Perranporth and its long beach face the Atlantic Ocean....
, Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
. His first novel, The House with the Stained Glass Windows was published in 1934; his first Poldark novel, Ross Poldark, was published in 1945, and was succeeded by a series of eleven further titles, the last of which, Bella Poldark, was published in 2002. The series was set in Cornwall, especially in and near Perranporth, where Graham spent much of his life. The first seven Poldark novels were turned into a 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...
television series first broadcast in the UK between 1975 and 1977 which gained audiences of about 14 million viewers. It was so successful that some vicars rescheduled or cancelled church services rather than try to have them clash with the transmission of the Poldark
Poldark
Poldark is a BBC television series based on the novels written by Winston Graham which was first transmitted in the UK between 1975 and 1977.-Outline:...
series.
Other than the Poldark novels, Graham's most successful work was Marnie
Marnie
Marnie is a 1961 English novel written by Winston Graham, about a young woman who makes a living by embezzling from her employers, moving on, and changing her identity. She is finally caught in the act by one of her employers, a young widower named Mark Rutland, who blackmails her into marriage...
(1964), a thriller filmed by Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
with Tippi Hedren
Tippi Hedren
Nathalie Kay "Tippi" Hedren is an American actress and former fashion model with a career spanning six decades. She is primarily known for her roles in two Alfred Hitchcock films, The Birds and Marnie, and her extensive efforts in animal rescue at Shambala Preserve, an wildlife habitat which she...
and Sean Connery
Sean Connery
Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...
in the leads. The novel was also adapted as a play by Sean O'Connor (producer)
Sean O'Connor (producer)
Sean O'Connor is a British producer, writer and director working in theatre, film, television and radio.O'Connor is currently producing the feature film version of Terence Rattigan's The Deep Blue Sea directed by Terence Davies and starring Rachel Weisz, Tom Hiddleston and Simon Russell Beale...
in 2001 and returned the story to its original British setting and bleak ending. Five of Graham's other books were filmed, including The Walking Stick, Night Without Stars and Take My Life.
Graham was an accomplished author of suspense novels and during the course of his life wrote nearly thirty novels (in addition to the twelve Poldark books). A 1941 spy thriller Night Journey set in the contemporary Nazi-occupied Europe captures some of the spirit of the time, with the protagonist believing that Britain was perhaps going to lose the war but is determined to "go down fighting". Graham also wrote a history of The Spanish Armadas and an historical novel, The Grove of Eagles, set in that period. (The plural "Armadas" refers to a lesser-known second attempt by Philip II of Spain
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
to conquer England in 1598, which Graham argued was better planned and organised than the famous one of 1588 but was foiled by a fierce storm scattering the Spanish ships and sinking many of them).
He married Jean Williamson in September 1939, having first met her in 1926 when she was 13 years old. She died in December 1992. During his youth he was a keen tennis player, recording in his diaries how many sets he played each day. He lived in Perranporth from 1925 until 1959, briefly in the south of France during 1960 and then settled in East Sussex. He was Chairman of the Society of Authors
Society of Authors
The Society of Authors is a trade union for professional writers that was founded in 1884 to protect the rights of writers and fight to retain those rights .It has counted amongst its members and presidents numerous notable writers and poets including Tennyson The Society of Authors (UK) is a...
and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
Royal Society of Literature
The Royal Society of Literature is the "senior literary organisation in Britain". It was founded in 1820 by George IV, in order to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". The Society's first president was Thomas Burgess, who later became the Bishop of Salisbury...
, and in 1983 was honoured with the Order of the British Empire.
Graham's autobiography, Memoirs of a Private Man, was published by Macmillan
Macmillan Publishers
Macmillan Publishers Ltd, also known as The Macmillan Group, is a privately held international publishing company owned by Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. It has offices in 41 countries worldwide and operates in more than thirty others.-History:...
in 2003. To celebrate the centenary of his birth, the Royal Cornwall Museum
Royal Cornwall Museum
The Royal Cornwall Museum is a museum in the city of Truro, Cornwall, England. It is the oldest museum in Cornwall and the leading museum of Cornish culture. Its exhibits include minerals, an unwrapped mummy and objects relating to Cornwall’s unique culture...
in Truro
Truro
Truro is a city and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The city is the centre for administration, leisure and retail in Cornwall, with a population recorded in the 2001 census of 17,431. Truro urban statistical area, which includes parts of surrounding parishes, has a 2001 census...
, Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, had an exhibition devoted to his life and works (Poldark's Cornwall: The life and times of Winston Graham) from mid-June to mid-September 2008, coinciding with re-publication of the Poldark novels by Pan Macmillan.
The Winston Graham Historical Prize was initiated as part of the Centenary Celebrations. Funded by a legacy from the author and supported by Pan Macmillan it is for a work of unpublished fiction, preferably with an association with Cornwall. Details can be obtained from the Royal Cornwall Museum
Royal Cornwall Museum
The Royal Cornwall Museum is a museum in the city of Truro, Cornwall, England. It is the oldest museum in Cornwall and the leading museum of Cornish culture. Its exhibits include minerals, an unwrapped mummy and objects relating to Cornwall’s unique culture...
.
The majority of Winston Graham's manuscripts and papers have been donated to the Royal Institute of Cornwall by his son Andrew Graham (academic)
Andrew Graham (academic)
Andrew Graham is an academic and was the Master of Balliol College, Oxford.-Life:Andrew Graham was born in Perranporth, Cornwall, and attended Truro Cathedral School and then Charterhouse. He read PPE at St Edmund Hall and graduated from Oxford University in 1964...
and daughter Rosamund Barteau. Further papers are housed at the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center at Boston University.
The Poldark Series
- 1945 - Ross Poldark
- 1946 - Demelza
- 1950 - Jeremy Poldark
- 1953 - Warleggan
- 1973 - The Black Moon
- 1976 - The Four Swans
- 1977 - The Angry Tide
- 1981 - The Stranger from the Sea
- 1983 - Poldark's Cornwall (non-fiction)
- 1982 - The Miller's Dance
- 1984 - The Loving Cup
- 1990 - The Twisted Sword
- 2002 - Bella Poldark
Other works
- 1934 - House with Stained Glass Windows
- 1935 - Into the Fog
- 1935 - The Riddle of John Rowe
- 1936 - Without Motive
- 1937 - The Dangerous Pawn
- 1938 - The Giant's Chair (revised edition, 1975 as Woman in the Mirror)
- 1939 - Keys of Chance
- 1939 - Strangers Meeting
- 1940 - No Exit
- 1941 - Night Journey (revised edition, 1966)
- 1942 - My Turn Next (revised edition, 1988 as Cameo)
- 1944 - The Merciless Ladies (revised edition, 1979)
- 1945 - The Forgotten Story
- 1947 - Take My Life
- 1949 - Cordelia
- 1950 - Night without Stars
- 1953 - Fortune Is a Woman
- 1955 - The Little WallsThe Little WallsThe Little Walls is a crime novel by Winston Graham. It won the very first Gold Dagger, then called Crossed Red Herring Award, awarded by the Crime Writers' Association in 1955...
(Gold DaggerGold DaggerThe Gold Dagger Award was an award given annually by the Crime Writers' Association for the best crime novel of the year.For its first five years, the organization's top honor was known as the Crossed Red Herring Award....
Award) - 1956 - The Sleeping Partner (filmed as Sócio de Alcova/Carnival of Crime)
- 1957 - Greek Fire
- 1959 - The Tumbled HouseThe Tumbled HouseThe Tumbled House is a suspense novel written by Winston Graham, who is most famous for the Poldark series of historical novels.The Tumbled House was first published in 1959 by Hodder and Stoughton and offers an insight into life in London during that period.-Synopsis:At the heart of the novel is...
- 1961 - MarnieMarnieMarnie is a 1961 English novel written by Winston Graham, about a young woman who makes a living by embezzling from her employers, moving on, and changing her identity. She is finally caught in the act by one of her employers, a young widower named Mark Rutland, who blackmails her into marriage...
- 1963 - The Grove of Eagles
- 1965 - After the Act
- 1967 - The Walking Stick
- 1967 - Take My Life
- 1970 - Angel, Pearl and Little God
- 1971 - The Japanese Girl (short stories)
- 1972 - The Spanish Armadas (non-fiction)
- 1982 - The Cornish Farm (short stories)
- 1986 - The Green Flash
- 1992 - Stephanie
- 1995 - Tremor
- 1998 - The Ugly Sister
- 2003 - Memoirs of a Private Man (autobiography)