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Eric George Whelpton (21 March 1894 – 13 February 1981) was a British writer, teacher and traveller.


Early life and education

Whelpton was born on 21 March 1894 in
Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...
, France, the son of the Revd George Whelpton, minister of Trinity Methodist Church,
Abingdon-on-Thames Abingdon-on-Thames ( ), commonly known as Abingdon, is a historic market town and civil parish in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Oxfordshire, England, on the River Thames. Historic counties of England, Historically the ...
, Berkshire and Georgina Elizabeth Holmes (died 1897). His maternal grandfather was Sir Henry Light Governor of British Guiana from 1838-1848. He attended a small Paris school and lived in
Passy Passy () is an area of Paris, France, located in the 16th arrondissement, on the Right Bank. It is home to many of the city's wealthiest residents. Passy was a commune on the outskirts of Paris. In 1658, hot springs were discovered around whic ...
before the family moved to England in 1906. He attended
Abingdon School Abingdon School is a day and boarding independent school for boys in Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England. The twentieth oldest independent British school, it celebrated its 750th anniversary in 2006. The school was described as "highly ...
from 1906 until 1909. From Abingdon he went to the Leys School, Cambridge before entering
Hertford College, Oxford Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main ga ...
in 1913. His education was interrupted when he served during World War I.


Career

Whelpton taught English at Ecole Des Roches and ran an office for the interchange of pupils and teachers with
Dorothy Sayers Dorothy Leigh Sayers (; 13 June 1893 – 17 December 1957) was an English crime writer and poet. She was also a student of classical and modern languages. She is best known for her mysteries, a series of novels and short stories set between th ...
. In 1920 he then moved and bought an estate agency in Florence and later worked in a girls' school and started a weekly newspaper called the Italian Mail. He taught at
Christ Church Cathedral School Christ Church Cathedral School is an independent preparatory school for boys in Oxford, England. It is one of three choral foundation schools in the city and educates choristers of Christ Church Cathedral, and the Chapels of Worcester College ...
. At the
University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...
, Whelpton became a close friend of Dorothy Sayers; upon him she perhaps based the character of
Lord Peter Wimsey Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey (later 17th Duke of Denver) is the fictional protagonist in a series of detective novels and short stories by Dorothy L. Sayers (and their continuation by Jill Paton Walsh). A dilettante who solves mysteries for ...
. Whelpton later taught French at
King's College School King's College School, also known as Wimbledon, KCS, King's and KCS Wimbledon, is a public school in Wimbledon, southwest London, England. The school was founded in 1829 by King George IV, as the junior department of King's College London and ...
, London, and was reader in comparative education at
King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...
(1931–42). Following the death of her husband, Dorothy Sayers acted as Whelpton's literary secretary. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Whelpton worked as a
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
news correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...
in France and, as recounted in his travel book, ''The
Balearics The Balearic Islands ( es, Islas Baleares ; or ca, Illes Balears ) are an archipelago in the Balearic Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago is an autonomous community and a province of Spain; its capital is ...
:
Majorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...
,
Minorca Menorca or Minorca (from la, Insula Minor, , smaller island, later ''Minorica'') is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Majorca. Its capita ...
,
Ibiza Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its l ...
'', he was told by a Swiss correspondent that he was on the
Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...
blacklist. His last two books, ''The Making of a European'' (1974) and ''The Making of an Englishman'' (1977), are largely autobiographical.


Personal life

From 1943 he was married to the artist and travel writer
Barbara Crocker Barbara Fanny Crocker, later Barbara Crocker Whelpton, (1910–1995) was a British author and artist known for her paintings and murals. Biography Crocker was born in London, one of the five children born to George Ashcombe Crocker, a dealer, a ...
who illustrated a number of his books.


Bibliography

* ''The Book of Dublin'' (1948) * ''The Intimate Charm of Kensington'' (1948) * ''Paris To-Day, with a gazetteer of places of interest and entertainment'' (Rockliff, 1948) * ''By Italian Shores'' (1950) * ''The Balearics: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza'' (Robert Hale, 1952) * ''Springtime at St. Hilaire'' (Museum Press, 1953) * ''Dalmatia'' (1954) * ''The Road to Nice'' (1955) * ''Summer at San Martino'' (with Barbara Whelpton; Hutchinson, 1956) * ''Grand Tour of Italy'' (1956) * ''Calabria and the Aeolian Islands'' (1957) * ''Paris Cavalcade'' (1959) * ''Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica'' (with Barbara Whelpton; Robert Hale,1960) * ''Greece & the Islands'' (1961) * ''Southern Spain (with Chapters on the Algarve)'' (1964) * ''A Concise History of Italy'' (1965) * ''Florence and Tuscany'' (1965) * ''Venice and North-Eastern Italy'' (1965) * ''Normandy and Brittany'' (holiday guides) (1965) * ''Eric Whelpton's Gastronomic Guide to Unknown France'' (1966) * ''Paris'' (1967) * ''Rome'' (1968) * ''The Italian Lakes & Dolomites'' (Collins holiday guides) (1969) * ''The Fall, the Reign and the Eclipse of Rome: History of Europe, 476-1530'' (1970) * ''The Austrians (How They Live & Work)'' (1970) * ''AA Road Book of France'' (with gazetteer, itineraries, maps and town plans) (foreword, 1970) * ''The Making of a European'' (1974) * ''The Making of an Englishman'' (1977)


See also

List of Old Abingdonians Old Abingdonians are former pupils of Abingdon School or, in some cases, Honorary Old Abingdonians who have been awarded the status based on service to the School. The Old Abingdonians also run the Old Abingdonian Club (OA club) which is an organ ...


References

1894 births 1981 deaths People educated at Bishop's Stortford College People educated at Christ Church Cathedral School People educated at Abingdon School Academics of King's College London People educated at The Leys School Alumni of Hertford College, Oxford English travel writers English male poets British expatriates in France 20th-century English poets 20th-century English male writers English male non-fiction writers {{UK-writer-stub