Allan Noble Monkhouse (7 May 1858 – 10 January 1936) was an English playwright, critic,

essayist An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

and novelist. He was born in

Barnard Castle Barnard Castle (, ) is a market town on the north bank of the River Tees, in County Durham, Northern England. The town is named after and built around a medieval castle ruin. The town's Bowes Museum's has an 18th-century Silver Swan automato ...

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

. He worked in the

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

trade, in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, and settled in

Disley Disley is a village and civil parish in Cheshire, England. It is located on the edge of the Peak District in the Goyt valley, south of Stockport and close to the county boundary with Derbyshire at New Mills. The population at the 2011 Census ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

. From 1902 to 1932 he worked on ''

The Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', writing also for the ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

''. As literary editor, in fact if not in formal title, at the ''Guardian'', Monkhouse helped to launch the career of

James Agate James Evershed Agate (9 September 1877 – 6 June 1947) was an English diarist and theatre critic between the two world wars. He took up journalism in his late twenties and was on the staff of ''The Manchester Guardian'' in 1907–1914. He later ...

by publishing his open letters from France during the First World War. Agate appears in Monkhouse's play ''Nothing Like Leather'' barely disguised as the theatre critic "Topaz". He began to write drama for the

Gaiety Theatre, Manchester The Gaiety Theatre, Manchester was a theatre in Manchester, England. It opened in 1884 and was demolished in 1959. It replaced a previous Gaiety Theatre on the site that had been destroyed by fire. The new theatre was designed by Alfred Darbysh ...

, shortly after it was opened by

Annie Horniman Annie Elizabeth Fredericka Horniman CH (3 October 1860 – 6 August 1937) was an English theatre patron and manager. She established the Abbey Theatre in Dublin and founded the first regional repertory theatre company in Britain at the Gaiety ...

, along with

Stanley Houghton William Stanley Houghton (22 February 1881 – 11 December 1913) was an English playwright. He was a prominent member, together with Allan Monkhouse and Harold Brighouse, of a group known as the Manchester School of dramatists. His best kno ...

and

Harold Brighouse Harold Brighouse (26 July 1882 – 25 July 1958) was an English playwright and author whose best known play is '' Hobson's Choice''. He was a prominent member, together with Allan Monkhouse and Stanley Houghton, of a group known as the Manche ...

, forming a school of realist dramatists independent of the London stage, who were known as the Manchester School.

Works

*''Books & Plays'' (1894) essays *''A Deliverance'' (1898) novel *''Love in a Life'' (1903) novel *''Reaping the Whirlwind'' (1908) play *''The Choice'' (1910) play *''Mary Broome: A Comedy in Four Acts'' (1912) *''Dying Fires'' (1912) novel *''Nothing Like Leather'' (1913) play *''Four Tragedies'' (1913) *''The Education of Mr. Surrage: A Comedy in Four Acts'' (1913) *''Night Watches: A Comedy in One Act'' (1916) *''Men & Ghosts'' (1918) novel *''True Love'' (1920) novel *''My Daughter Helen'' (1922) novel *''The Conquering Hero'' (1923) play *''Marmaduke'' (1924) novel *''First Blood: A Play in Four Acts'' (1924) *''Sons And Fathers: A Play in Four Acts'' (1925) *''Essays of To-Day and Yesterday'' (1925) *''Suburb'' (1925) *''Alfred the Great'' (1927) novel *''The Rag'' (1928) play *''Paul Felice: A Play in Four Acts'' (1930) *''Farewell Manchester'' (1931) novel *''The Grand Cham's Diamond'' (1932) play *''Cecilia: A Play in Four Acts'' (1932)

External links

* * *
Allan Monkhouse papers
at

John Rylands Library The John Rylands Research Institute and Library is a late-Victorian neo-Gothic building on Deansgate in Manchester, England. It is part of the University of Manchester. The library, which opened to the public in 1900, was founded by Enriquet ...

, Manchester.
Play by Allan Monkhouse on Great War Theatre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monkhouse, Allan 1858 births 1936 deaths 20th-century English novelists English dramatists and playwrights Writers from Manchester People from Barnard Castle People from Disley English male dramatists and playwrights English male novelists 20th-century English male writers