Herbert Ernest Bates (16 May 1905 – 29 January 1974) was an English writer, known for his gritty realistic short stories (he wrote more than 25 collections) and novels set in the early to mid 20th century of England mainly. He was from the countryside and adored flowers and gardening (writing two books on gardening), so much of his writing is informed by this. The semi-autobiographical "Love for Lydia" has detailed descriptions of nature in winter, and of the big grounds of Aspen Hall where he meets Lydia. His best-known works include ''

Love for Lydia ''Love for Lydia'' is a semi-autobiographical novel written by British author H. E. Bates, first published in 1952. Plot Lydia Aspen, a seemingly shy girl from a wealthy but isolated background, is encouraged by her aunts, her new carers, to disc ...

'', ''

Fair Stood the Wind for France ''Fair Stood the Wind for France'' is a novel written by English author H. E. Bates. The novel was first published in 1944 and was Bates's first financial success. The title comes from the first line of " Agincourt", a poem by Michael Drayton (1 ...

'', '' The Darling Buds of May'', as well as ''

My Uncle Silas ''My Uncle Silas'' is a book of short stories about a bucolic elderly Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of B ...

''. Many of his short stories were turned into tv series by British television in the 1970s.

Early life

Herbert Ernest Bates was born on 16 May 1905 in

Rushden Rushden is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Northamptonshire, England, around east of Northampton. The parish is on the border with Bedfordshire, north of Bedford. The parish of Rushden covers an area of some ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

, and educated at

Kettering Grammar School Kettering Grammar School was a boys' grammar school (selective) that had a number of homes in Kettering, Northamptonshire throughout its history. History The school was based in a building in Gold Street which, together with the master's house, ...

. After the end of school, he worked as a reporter and a warehouse clerk.

Career

Typically, Bates' best-known works are set in the English countryside, particularly the

Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...

including his native

and the 'Garden of England',

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, the setting for '' The Darling Buds of May''. Bates was partial to taking long walks around the Northamptonshire countryside, which often provided the inspiration for his stories. His love for the countryside is exemplified in two volumes of essays, ''Through the Woods'' and ''Down the River''. Both have been reprinted numerous times. Several of Bates's works, such ''The Bride Comes to Evensford'' and ''

'', are set in the fictional town of Evensford, which is based on Bates's hometown

in Northamptonshire. Bates discarded his first novel, written when he was in his late teenage years, but his second, and the first to be published, '' The Two Sisters'', was inspired by one of his midnight walks, which took him to the small village of

Farndish Farndish is a rural hamlet in northwest Bedfordshire, located about 500 metres (yards) east of the county border with Northamptonshire. The village is near the Northamptonshire villages of Irchester and Wollaston and the Bedfordshire village of ...

. There, late at night, he saw a light burning in a cottage window and it was this that triggered the story. He was working briefly for the local newspaper in

Wellingborough Wellingborough ( ) is a large market and commuter town in the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire in the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, 65 miles from London and from Northampton on the north side of the River Nen ...

, a job which he hated, and then later at a local shoe-making warehouse, where he had time to write; in fact the whole of this first novel was written there. This was sent to, and rejected by, eight or nine publishers until

Jonathan Cape Jonathan Cape is a London publishing firm founded in 1921 by Herbert Jonathan Cape, who was head of the firm until his death in 1960. Cape and his business partner Wren Howard set up the publishing house in 1921. They established a reputation ...

accepted it on the advice of its respected Reader,

Edward Garnett Edward William Garnett (5 January 1868 – 19 February 1937) was an English writer, critic and literary editor, who was instrumental in the publication of D. H. Lawrence's ''Sons and Lovers''. Early life and family Edward Garnett was born i ...

. Bates was then twenty years old. More novels, collections of short stories, essays, and articles followed, but did not pay well.

World War II short stories

During World War II, he was commissioned into the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

solely to write short stories. The

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

realised that it might create more favorable public sentiment by emphasizing stories about the people fighting the war, rather than facts. The stories were published originally in the ''

News Chronicle The ''News Chronicle'' was a British daily newspaper. Formed by the merger of '' The Daily News'' and the ''Daily Chronicle'' in 1930, it ceased publication on 17 October 1960,''Liberal Democrat News'' 15 October 2010, accessed 15 October 2010 be ...

'' with the pseudonym "Flying Officer X". Later they were published in book form as ''The Greatest People in the World and Other Stories'' and ''How Sleep the Brave and Other Stories''. His first financial success was ''

''. After a posting to the Far East, this was followed by two novels about Burma, ''

The Purple Plain ''The Purple Plain'' is a 1954 British war film directed by Robert Parrish, with Gregory Peck playing a Royal Canadian Air Force pilot serving in the Royal Air Force in the Burma campaign in the closing months of the Second World War, who is b ...

'' in 1947 and ''The Jacaranda Tree'' (published in 1949), and one set in India, '' The Scarlet Sword'' (published in 1950). He was also commissioned by the Air Ministry to write
The Battle of the Flying Bomb
', but because of various disagreements within the government, it was cancelled, and then publication was banned for 30 years. It was discovered by Bob Ogley and published during 1994 with the title ''Flying Bombs over England''. Another commission which has still to be published is
Night Interception Battle
' concerning the difficulty of tracking enemy aircraft at night.

Post-war work

Other novels followed after the war; he averaged about one novel and a collection of short stories a year, which was considered very productive at the time. These included ''The Feast of July'' and ''

''. His most popular creation was the Larkin family in '' The Darling Buds of May''. Pop Larkin and his family were inspired by a person seen in a local shop in Kent by Bates and his family when on holiday. The man (probably Wiltshire trader William Dell, also on holiday) had a huge wad of rubber-banded bank notes and proceeded to treat his trailer load of children with Easter eggs and ice creams. Other characters were modelled on friends and acquaintances of Bates, such as Iris Snow (a parody of

Iris Murdoch Dame Jean Iris Murdoch ( ; 15 July 1919 – 8 February 1999) was an Irish and British novelist and philosopher. Murdoch is best known for her novels about good and evil, sexual relationships, morality, and the power of the unconscious. Her fi ...

) and the Brigadier who was modelled on the father of John Bayley, Murdoch's husband. The

television adaptation An adaptation is a transfer of a work of art from one style, culture or medium to another. Some common examples are: * Film adaptation, a story from another work, adapted into a film (it may be a novel, non-fiction like journalism, autobiography, ...

, produced after his death by his son Richard and based on these stories, was a tremendous success. It is also the source of the American movie '' The Mating Game''. The ''

'' stories were also made into a UK television series from 2000 to 2003. Many other stories were adapted to TV and others to movies, the most renowned being ''

'' in 1954 and ''

The Triple Echo ''The Triple Echo'' (also known as ''Soldier in Skirts'' in its U.S. release) is a 1972 British drama film directed by Michael Apted starring Glenda Jackson, Brian Deacon and Oliver Reed, and based on the 1970 novella by H.E. Bates. It was sho ...

''; Bates also worked on other movie scripts. In 2020 ITV commissioned a new television series of The Darling Buds of May, with the title

The Larkins The Larkins may refer to: * The Larkins (1958 TV series), a British TV comedy series broadcast between 1958 and 1964 * The Larkins (2021 TV series), a British TV comedy drama that started broadcasting in 2021 * the family which is the subject of Th ...

starring

Bradley Walsh Bradley John Walsh (born 4 June 1960) is an English actor, comedian, singer, television presenter, and former professional footballer. Walsh is known for his roles as Danny Baldwin in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' (2004–2006), as ...

Joanna Scanlan Joanna Marion Scanlan (born 27 October 1961) is a British actress. On television, she is known for her roles in British series such as ''The Thick of It'' (2005–2012), '' Getting On'' (2009–2012), ''Puppy Love'' (2014), and ''No Offence'' ( ...

Sabrina Bartlett Sabrina Lois Bartlett (born September 1991) is an English actress. She is known for her roles in the BBC One miniseries ''The Passing Bells'' (2014), the third series of the ITV drama ''Victoria'' (2019), and the first series of ''Knightfall'' (2 ...

and

Tok Stephen Tok or TOK may refer to: *Tok, Alaska *Tok Pisin, a language *Toki Pona (ISO 639-3 code), a constructed language *T.O.K., a Jamaican reggae dancehall band *Theory of Knowledge (IB course) * ''Tok'', the Hungarian name for Toc village, Săvârșin ...

. The first episode aired in October 2021.

Personal life

In 1931, he married Madge Cox, who lived two streets away from him in his native Rushden. They moved to the village of

Little Chart Little Chart is a village and civil parish, situated north-west of Ashford in Kent, South East England. The parish lies south of the M20 motorway. Geography Within the parish boundaries is the linear settlement village centre by the old water m ...

and bought an old granary and this together with an acre of garden they converted into a home. Bates was a keen and knowledgeable gardener who wrote many books on flowers. The Granary remained their home for the whole of their married life. They had two sons and two daughters: Ann, Judith, Richard and Jonathan.

Jonathan Bates Jonathan Bates (1 November 1939 – 31 October 2008) was an English sound editor. He was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Sound for the film ''Gandhi''. and won a BAFTA in 1988 for his work on the film ''Cry Freedo ...

was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for his sound work on the 1982 movie ''

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

''. Richard became a television producer, Bates's granddaughter,

Victoria Wicks Victoria Wicks (born Beverly Victoria Anne Wicks; 18 April 1959) is a British actress. She is known for her role as Sally Smedley in Channel 4's comedy series ''Drop the Dead Donkey'' (1990–1998), Mrs. Gideon in ''The Mighty Boosh'' (2004), ...

is an actress and script consultant.

Death and honours

Bates died on 29 January 1974 in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

, Kent, aged 68. A prolific and successful author, his greatest success was posthumous, with the television

adaptations In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the p ...

of his stories ''The Darling Buds of May'' and its sequels as well as adaptations of ''My Uncle Silas'', '' A Moment in Time'', ''

'' and ''

''. In his home town of Rushden, H.E. Bates has a road named after him to the west of the town, leading to the local leisure centre. His archive is held at the

Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center (until 1983 the Humanities Research Center) is an archive, library and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe for the pur ...

at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

. After Bates' death Madge moved to a bungalow, which had originally been a cow

byre A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...

, next to the Granary. She died in 2004 at the age of 95.

Bibliography

Novels

* '' The Two Sisters'' (1926) * ''Catherine Foster'' (1929) * ''Charlotte's Row'' (1931) * ''The Fallow Land'' (1932) * ''The Poacher'' (1935) * ''A House of Women'' (1936) * ''Spella Ho'' (1938) * ''

'' (1944) * ''

The Cruise of the Breadwinner ''The Cruise of the Breadwinner'' is a novella by the British author H. E. Bates. It was first published in 1946 and has been printed a number of times since. Much like the acclaimed novel ''Fair Stood the Wind for France'', it is one of Bates' w ...

'' (1946) * ''

'' (1947) * ''Dear Life'' (1949) * ''The Jacaranda Tree'' (1949) * ''The Scarlet Sword'' (1950) * ''The Grass God'' (1951) * ''

'' (1952) * ''The

Feast of July ''Feast of July'' is a 1995 American-British neo noir crime film directed by Christopher Menaul and produced by Merchant Ivory Productions, based on the 1954 novel by H. E. Bates, starring Embeth Davidtz and Ben Chaplin. Plot The movie opens with ...

'' (1954) * ''The Sleepless Moon'' (1956) * ''A Crown of Wild Myrtle'' (1962) * '' A Moment in Time'' (1964) * ''The Distant Horns of Summer'' (1967) * ''

'' (1970)

Pop Larkin series

* '' The Darling Buds of May'' (1958) * ''

A Breath of French Air ''A Breath of French Air'' is a 1959 comedy novel by the British writer H. E. Bates. It is the sequel to his popular 1958 novel '' The Darling Buds of May'' about a family living in the Kent countryside. The Larkins decide to take their first eve ...

'' (1959) * ''

When the Green Woods Laugh ''When the Green Woods Laugh'' is a 1960 comedy novel by the British writer H. E. Bates. It is the third in the series began by the 1958 novel '' The Darling Buds of May'' focusing on the Larkins, a family living in rural Kent.Jacob & Apple p.15 ...

'' (1960) * ''Oh! To be in England'' (1963) * ''A Little of What You Fancy'' (1970)

Short stories

* ''The Seekers'' (1926) * ''The Spring Song and in View of the Fact That'' (1927) * ''Day's End'' (1928) * ''Alexander'' (1929) * ''The Tree'' (1930) * ''The Hessian Prisoner'' (1930) * ''A Threshing Day for Esther'' (1930) * ''Charlotte Esmond'' (1930) Republished as ''Mrs Esmond's Life'' (1931) * ''A German Idyll'' (1932) * ''Sally Go Round the Moon'' (1932) * ''The Black Boxer'' (1932) * ''The Story Without an End'' (1932) * ''The House with the Apricot'' (1933) * ''Time'' (1933) * ''The Lily'' (1933) * ''The Woman who had Imagination'' (1934) * ''The Duet'' (1935) * ''The Mill'' (1935) * ''The Ox'' (1939) * ''I Am Not Myself'' (1939) * ''The Beauty of the Dead'' (1940) * ''The Bride Comes to Evensford'' (1943) * ''Colonel Julien'' (1951) * ''The Delicate Nature'' (1953) * ''Dulcima'' (1953) * ''The Nature of Love'' (1953) * ''The Daffodil Sky'' (1955) * ''Summer in Salander'' (1955) * ''The Grapes of Paradise'' (1956) * ''The Queen of Spain Fritillary'' (1956) * ''Death of a Huntsman'' (1957) * ''A Great Day for Bonzo'' (1957) * ''A Month by the Lake'' (1957) * ''Night Run to the West'' (1957) * ''A Prospect of Orchards'' (1957) * ''The White Wind'' (1957) * ''An Aspidistra in Babylon'' (1959) * ''The Watercress Girl'' (1959) * ''Mr Featherstone Takes a Ride'' (1961) * ''Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal'' (1961) * ''The Day of the Tortoise'' (1961) * ''The Ring of Truth'' (1961) * ''The Quiet Girl'' (1962) * ''The World is Too Much With Us'' (1962) * ''The Fabulous Mrs V'' (1964) * ''The Simple Life'' (1967) * ''The Chords of Youth'' (1968) * ''The Four Beauties'' (1968) * ''The White Admiral'' (1968) * ''The Dam'' (1971) * ''The Man Who Loved Squirrels'' (1971) * ''The Song of the Wren'' (1972) * ''The Yellow Meads of Asphodel'' (1976)

Short story collections

* ''Day's End and Other Stories'' (1928) * ''Seven Tales and Alexander'' (1929) * ''The Black Boxer Tales'' (1932) * ''The Woman Who Had Imagination and Other Stories'' (1934) * ''Thirty Tales'' (1934) * ''Cut and Come Again'' (1935) * ''Something Short and Sweet'' (1937) * ''Country Tales'' (1938) * ''The Flying Goat'' (1939) * ''The Beauty of the Dead and Other Stories'' (1940) * ''Thirty-One Selected Tales'' (1947) * ''The Bride Comes to Evensford and Other Tales'' (1949) * ''Colonel Julian and Other Stories'' (1951) * ''Twenty Tales'' (1951) * ''Selected Short Stories of H.E. Bates'' (1951) * ''The Daffodil Sky'' (1955) * ''Selected Stories'' (1957) * ''The Watercress Girl'' (1959) * ''An Aspidistra in Babylon'' (1960) * ''Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal and Other Stories'' (1961) * ''The Golden Oriole'' (1962) * ''Seven by Five'' (1963) * ''The Fabulous Mrs V'' (1964) * ''The Wedding Party'' (1965) * ''The Wild Cherry Tree'' (1968) * ''The Song of the Wren'' (1972) * ''The Good Corn and other Stories'' (1974) * ''A Party for the Girls'' (1988) * ''Love in a Wych Elm and Other Stories'' (2009)

Uncle Silas series

* ''

'' (1939) * ''Sugar for the Horse'' (1957)

Flying Officer X series

* ''The Greatest People in the World and Other Stories'' (1942) * ''How Sleep the Brave and Other Stories'' (1943) * ''Something in the Air'' (1944) * ''The Stories of Flying Officer 'X (1952)

Drama

* ''The Last Bread'' (1926) (a play in one act) * ''The Day of Glory'' (1945) (a play in three acts)

Essays and non-fiction

* ''Flowers and Faces'' (1935) * ''Through the Woods'' (1936) * ''Down the River'' (1937) * ''The Seasons & The Gardener'' (1940) * ''In the Heart of the Country'' (1942) * ''O More Than Happy Countryman'' (1943) * ''War Pictures by British Artists'' (1943) * ''Country Life'' (1943) * ''There's Freedom in the Air'' (1944) * ''The W.A.A.F in Action'' (1944) * ''Flying Bombs over England'' (1945) Also published as "The Battle of the Flying Bomb." * ''The Tinkers of Elstow'' (1946) * ''The Country Heart'' (1949) * ''Fawley Achievement'' (1951) * ''The Country of White Clover'' (1952) * ''Edward Garnett'' (1950) * ''A Love of Flowers'' (1971) * ''A Fountain of Flowers'' (1974)

Criticism

* ''The Modern Short Story'' (1942)

Books for children

* ''The Seekers'' (1926) * ''The Seasons & The Gardener'' (1940) * ''Achilles the Donkey'' (1962) * ''Achilles and Diana'' (1963) * ''Achilles and the Twins'' (1964) * ''The White Admiral'' (1968)

Autobiography

* ''The Vanished World'' (1969) * ''The Blossoming World'' (1971) * ''The World in Ripeness'' (1972)

References to H.E. Bates

* Bates's novel ''

'' served as an inspiration for

Donna Lewis Donna Lewis (born August 1959) is a Welsh singer. She is best known for the 1996 pop hit single "I Love You Always Forever", which peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart, and also peaked within the top ten of the charts in Australia, Aust ...

's 1996 smash hit "

I Love You Always Forever "I Love You Always Forever" is the debut single by Welsh singer Donna Lewis from her debut album, ''Now in a Minute'' (1996). Written by Lewis and produced by Lewis and Kevin Killen, it was released as the album's lead single in the United State ...

". * Literary study of his works: Dennis Vannatta, ''H.E. Bates'' (Twayne's English Authors Series). Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1983. * Bates' idyllic depiction of rural Britain is referred to by the character 'I' in cult British comedy ''

Withnail & I ''Withnail and I'' is a 1987 British black comedy film written and directed by Bruce Robinson. Loosely based on Robinson's life in London in the late 1960s, the plot follows two unemployed actors, Withnail and "I" (portrayed by Richard E. Gran ...

'' * His short story 'The Mill' featured as the extract in the first paper of the

AQA AQA, formerly the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance, is an awarding body in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It compiles specifications and holds examinations in various subjects at GCSE, AS and A Level and offers vocational qu ...

English Language

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

in 2019.

Notes

* Eads, Peter, 1990, H.E.BATES, A Bibliographical Study,

St. Paul's Bibliographies St. Paul's Bibliographies was a publishing company founded by Robert S. Cross (1925-2011) in 1979 in Winchester, England that specialized in bibliographical works and book history more generally. In the 1980s, the firm co-published in the US with O ...

, Winchester, Hampshire, Omnigraphics, Detroit 1990 * * Eads, Peter, 2007, H.E.BATES, A Bibliographical Study,

Oak Knoll Press Oak Knoll is a bookseller and publisher based in New Castle, Delaware, United States. Oak Knoll includes Oak Knoll Books which specializes in the sale of rare and antiquarian books and Oak Knoll Press which is a publisher and distributor of in-print ...

& British Library, (Oak Knoll Press) (The British Library) * Eads, Peter, 1990, Give Them Their Life, The Poetry of H.E. Bates, Evensford Productions Ltd, * Eads, Peter, 1995, The Life and Times of H.E.Bates, Northamptonshire County Council Libraries and Information Service,

External links

HE Bates
(HEBates.com)
H. E. Bates Papers
at the

The Vanished World of H. E. Bates
(TheVanishedWorld.co.uk) * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bates, H. E. 1905 births 1974 deaths English nature writers English short story writers People from Rushden Bates, Herbert Ernest 20th-century English novelists 20th-century British short story writers People from Little Chart Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Air Force officers