Harold John Massingham (25 March 1888 – 22 August 1952) was a prolific British writer on ruralism, matters to do with the countryside and agriculture. He was also a published poet.

Life

Massingham was the son of the journalist H. W. Massingham. He was brought up in London, and educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Head M ...

and

Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassical architecture, ...

. He failed to graduate from Oxford, because of bad health. He then became a journalist in London. He worked for the ''Morning Leader'', '' Athenaeum'', and the ''Nation'', and knew D. H. Lawrence. In the 1920s he became a research assistant for two anthropologists from University College, London, and an interest in archeology and anthropology, which proved lifelong, led to the publication of ''Downland Man'' (1926) and a number of other works. He worked on a research project whose aim was to show that all megalithic culture in England had spread from Egypt. By 1932 Massingham began to write more and more on country life, and the first of a long series of such books, possibly his best-known, was ''Wold Without End'' (1932), reflecting his experiences living in

Chipping Campden Chipping Campden is a market town in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England. It is notable for its terraced High Street, dating from the 14th century to the 17th century. ("Chipping" is from Old English ''cēping'', 'market', 'mark ...

in the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Ju ...

. A serious accident happened in 1937, when he injured his leg, leading to a two-year period of regular hospital visits, at the end of which he hurt the same leg again, and it had to be amputated. He was forced to stop travelling as frequently as he had been doing and settled down to writing some thirty more books. He was strongly influenced by the writings of

Gilbert White Gilbert White FRS (18 July 1720 – 26 June 1793) was a "parson-naturalist", a pioneering English naturalist, ecologist, and ornithologist. He is best known for his '' Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne''. Life White was born on ...

and edited selections of White's writings. He was one of a group of ruralist British writers of the period; Massingham's friend Adrian Bell, a farmer in

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, was another prominent writer, and John Musty suggests that Massingham may have had a hand in getting Bell published. They have attracted subsequent attention both as precursors to later developments, such as

organic farming Organic farming, also known as ecological farming or biological farming,Labelling, article 30 o''Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic production and labelling of organic products and re ...

, and because of their political entanglements in the 1930s (for example,

Henry Williamson Henry William Williamson (1 December 1895 – 13 August 1977) was an English writer who wrote novels concerned with wildlife, English social history and ruralism. He was awarded the Hawthornden Prize for literature in 1928 for his book '' Tarka ...

was a supporter of

Oswald Mosley Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980) was a British politician during the 1920s and 1930s who rose to fame when, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, he turned to fascism. He was a Member ...

). Massingham himself wrote in a vein compatible with the

Social Credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made them. To combat what he ...

and distributist ideas current at the time, as in his 1943 ''The Tree of Life''. He was one of the twelve members of the Kinship in Husbandry, set up in 1941 by

Rolf Gardiner Henry Rolf Gardiner (5 November 1902 – 26 November 1971) was an English rural revivalist, helping to bring back folk dance styles including Morris dancing and sword dancing. He founded groups significant in the British history of organic f ...

, a society dedicated to countryside revival in a post-war world. According to academics Richard Moore-Colyer and Philip Conford, Massingham was uncomfortable with what he felt was a pro-German tendency in this group. When the Kinship later merged with two other bodies to form the

Soil Association The Soil Association is a British registered charity. The organisation activities include campaigning – against intensive farming, for local purchasing and public education on nutrition – and certification of organic foods. It was establis ...

, Massingham with Gardiner, the landowner Lord Portsmouth and the agricultural journalist Lawrence Easterbrook came onto the Soil Association's Council. After Massingham's death his collection of tools, implements and products of craftsmanship and husbandry were donated to the Museum of English Rural Life. Many of the objects appear in his book "Country Relics".

Works

*''Letters to X from H.J. Massingham'' (1919) Constable & Co. *''Dogs, Birds, and Others'' (1921), letters to

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''Th ...

, editor *''Some Birds of the Countryside: The Art Of Nature'' (1921) *"John Clare". ''The Athenaeum'', 4732 (7 January 1921): 9–10. *''Poems About Birds from the Middle Ages to the Present Day'' (1922), editor *''Andrew Marvell 1621–1678 Tercentenary Tributes'' (1922) co-editor *''Untrodden Ways – Adventures of English Coasts, Heaths and Marshes and Also Among the Works of Hudson, Crabbe and Other Country Writers'' (1923) *''Sanctuaries for Birds and How to Make Them'' (1924) *''In Praise of England'' (1924), miscellany *''H. W. M.: A Selection From the Writings of H. W. Massingham'' (1925), editor *''Downland Man'' (1926) *''Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum: The Giants in England'' (1926) *''The Golden Age: The Story of Human Nature'' (1927) *''The Heritage of Man'' (1929) *''Guide to the Cotswolds'', with

Clough Williams-Ellis Sir Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis, CBE, MC (28 May 1883 – 9 April 1978) was a Welsh architect known chiefly as the creator of the Italianate village of Portmeirion in North Wales. He became a major figure in the development of Welsh architec ...

, and others *''Pre-Roman Britain'' (1930) *''The Friend of Shelley: A Memoir of Edward John Trelawny'' (1930) *''A Treasury of seventeenth Century English Verse'' (1931) editor *''Birds of the Seashore'' (1931) *''Wold Without End'' (1932) *''London Scene'' (1933) *''The Great Victorians'' (1932), with Hugh Massingham *''English Country: Fifteen Essays by Various Authors'' (1934) editor, with H. E. Bates,

Edmund Blunden Edmund Charles Blunden (1 November 1896 – 20 January 1974) was an English poet, author, and critic. Like his friend Siegfried Sassoon, he wrote of his experiences in World War I in both verse and prose. For most of his career, Blunden was als ...

, W. H. Davies,

Vita Sackville-West Victoria Mary, Lady Nicolson, CH (née Sackville-West; 9 March 1892 – 2 June 1962), usually known as Vita Sackville-West, was an English author and garden designer. Sackville-West was a successful novelist, poet and journalist, as we ...

, A. G. Street, John Collier *''Country'' (1934), illustrated with photographs by Edgar Ward *''World Without End'' (1935) *''Through the Wilderness'' (1935) *''English Downland'' (1936) *''The Genius of England'' (1937) *''The Writings of Gilbert White of Selborne'' (Nonesuch Press, 1938), editor, two volumes with engravings by

Eric Ravilious Eric William Ravilious (22 July 1903 – 2 September 1942) was a British painter, designer, book illustrator and wood-engraver. He grew up in Sussex, and is particularly known for his watercolours of the South Downs and other English landsca ...

*''Britain and the Beast'' (1937), essay volume with A. G. Street, J. M. Keynes, John Moore,

E. M. Forster Edward Morgan Forster (1 January 1879 – 7 June 1970) was an English author, best known for his novels, particularly ''A Room with a View'' (1908), ''Howards End'' (1910), and ''A Passage to India'' (1924). He also wrote numerous short stori ...

*''Shepherd's Country: a Record of the Crafts and People of the Hills'' (1938) *''Country Relics'' (1939) *''A Countryman's Journal'' (1939) *''The English Countryside'' (1939), editor, with Adrian Bell, Harry Batsford, H. E. Bates. Batsford, Harry; Fry, Charles; Clark, Geoffrey; Warren, C. Henry; Bozman, E. F.; Bell, Adrian; Fairfax- Blakeborough, J) *''The Sweet of the Year; March–April, May–June'' (1939) *''Chiltern Country'' (1940) *''Cotswold Country'' (1941) *''Remembrance, an autobiography'' (1941) with Paul Nash *''The Fall of the Year'' (1941) *''England and the Farmer a symposium'' (1941), editor, Viscount Lymington, Sir Albert Howard, C. Henry Warren, Adrian Bell,

, L. J. Picton and Sir George Stapledon. *''Field Fellowship'' (1942) *''The English Countryman: a Study of the English Tradition'' (1942) *''Men of Earth'' (1943) *''Tree of Life'' (1943) *''This Plot of Earth: A Gardener's Chronicle'' (1944) *''The Wisdom of the Fields'' (1945) *''Where Man Belongs: Rural Influence On Literature'' (1946) *''The Natural Order – Essays in the Return to Husbandry'' (1946) (editor, with Philip Mairet, Lord Northbourne, the

Earl of Portsmouth Earl of Portsmouth is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1743 for John Wallop, 1st Viscount Lymington, who had previously represented Hampshire in the House of Commons. He had already been created Baron Wallop, of ...

(Illustrated by Thomas Hennell) *''The Small Farmer A Survey By Various Hands'' (1947), editor *''The Countryside and How to Enjoy it'' (1948) *''An Englishman's Year'' (1948) *''The Best Days'' (1949) *''The Curious Traveller'' (1950)Detail from a book published by Collins London in 1950 *''The Faith of a Fieldsman'' (1951) *''Shakespeare Country, The, Including the Peak and the Cotswolds'' (1951) *''The Southern Marches'' (1952) ;Published posthumously *''Prophesy of Famine: a Warning and the Remedy'' (1953), with

Edward Hyams Edward Solomon Hyams (30 September 1910 – 25 November 1975) was a British gardener and horticulturalist, historian, novelist and writer, and anarchist. He is known for his writings as a French scholar and socialist historian, and as a gardene ...

*''The Essential Gilbert White of Selborne'' (1983), editor, selected by Mark Daniel *''Fifteen Poems'' ( Hayloft Press, 1987) *''A Mirror of England: an anthology of the Writings of H. J. Massingham (1882–1952)'', edited by Edward Abelson (1988)

References

External links

Abstract on Kinship of Husbandry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massingham, H. J. 1888 births 1952 deaths 20th-century English male writers 20th-century English poets English nature writers English male non-fiction writers English male poets English non-fiction writers Organic farmers

Life

Works

References

Further reading

External links