Henry Woodd Nevinson (1856-1941) circa 1915

Henry Woodd Nevinson (11 October 1856 – 9 November 1941) was an English war correspondent during the Second Boer War and World War I, a campaigning journalist exposing slavery in western Africa, political commentator and suffragist."Nevinson, Henry Woodd" by H. N. Brailsford, revised by Sinead Agnew. ''Oxford Dictionary Of National Biography : From the Earliest Times to the year 2000''. Editors, H.C.G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford University Press, 2004. (Volume 40, pp. 551-2). Nevinson studied at Shrewsbury School and later at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

. At Oxford, he came under the influence of John Ruskin's ideas. He worked as a missionary at

Toynbee Hall Toynbee Hall is a charitable institution that works to address the causes and impacts of poverty in the East End of London and elsewhere. Established in 1884, it is based in Commercial Street, Spitalfields, and was the first university-affiliat ...

in London's

East End The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

. After this he spent some time in Jena studying German culture. The result of this was in 1884 Nevinson published his first book, ''Herder and his Times'', one of the first studies of

Johann Gottfried Herder Johann Gottfried von Herder ( , ; 25 August 174418 December 1803) was a German philosopher, theologian, poet, and literary critic. He is associated with the Enlightenment, ''Sturm und Drang'', and Weimar Classicism. Biography Born in Mohrun ...

in English. In the 1880s Nevinson became a socialist; he befriended

Peter Kropotkin Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (; russian: link=no, Пётр Алексе́евич Кропо́ткин ; 9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist, socialist, revolutionary, historian, scientist, philosopher, and activis ...

and Edward Carpenter, and in 1889 joined the

Social Democratic Federation The Social Democratic Federation (SDF) was established as Britain's first organised socialist political party by H. M. Hyndman, and had its first meeting on 7 June 1881. Those joining the SDF included William Morris, George Lansbury, James Con ...

Reporting

In 1897 Nevinson became the '' Daily Chronicle's'' correspondent in the Greco-Turkish War. He was known for his reporting on the Second Boer War, and slavery in Angola in 1904–1905, and on India for 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 ...

.'' In 1914 he co-founded the Friends' Ambulance Unit and later in World War I was a war correspondent, being wounded at

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...

Advocacy

He was hired by

Harper's Monthly Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. ('' Scientific American'' is older, ...

to investigate rumours of a trade in slaves from Angola to the cocoa plantations of São Tomé. After a 450-mile journey inland, he uncovered a trail of people being handed over to settle debts or seized by Portuguese agents and taken in shackles to the coastal towns. Once there he was enraged to find that Portuguese officials "freed" them and changed their status to that of voluntary workers who agreed to go to São Tomé for five years. Despite ill health so severe that he feared he had been poisoned Nevinson followed the slaves' journey to São Tomé. He found conditions on the plantations so harsh that one in five workers died each year. His account was serialised in the magazine from August 1905 and published as "A Modern Slavery" by Harper and Bros in 1906. He was also a suffragist, is one of the founders in 1907 of the

Men's League for Women's Suffrage The Men's League for Women's Suffrage may refer to: * The Men's League, United States women's suffrage group, also known as the Men's Equal Suffrage League and the Men's League for Women's Suffrage *The Men's League for Women's Suffrage (United Kin ...

. Reviewing Nevinson's book, ''More Changes, More Chances'' (1925), E. M. Forster described the book as "exciting", and noting that Nevinson had joined the British Labour Party, stated: "He has brought to the soil of his adoption something that transcends party- generosity, recklessness, a belief in conscience joined to a mistrust of principles". In Nancy Cunard's pamphlet ''Authors Take Sides on the Spanish War'', Nevinson gave his support to the

Spanish Republicans Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries ** Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

and stated "I detest the cruel systems of persecution and suppression now existing under Hitler in Germany, Mussolini in Italy and Stalin in Russia". Nancy Cunard, ''Authors Take Sides on the Spanish War''. '' Left Review'', 1937. (p.21)

Family

He married Margaret Wynne Jones; the artist Christopher Nevinson was their son. During their marriage he had a long term affair with Nora Dryhurst which ended in 1912. Shortly after the death of his wife, Margaret, in 1933, Henry married his long-time friend and lover, fellow suffragist,

Evelyn Sharp Evelyn Sharp may refer to: *Evelyn Sharp (aviator) (1919–1944), American aviator * Evelyn Sharp (businesswoman) (died 1997), American hotelier * Evelyn Sharp (suffragist) (1869–1955), British suffragist and author *Evelyn Sharp, Baroness Sharp ...

. He died in 1941, aged 85.

Bibliography

A Sketch of Herder and his times
(1884) (See

.)
Life of Friedrich Schiller
(1889) (See

Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friends ...

.)
Neighbours of Ours: A Novel
(1895)
In the Valley of Tophet: Tales
(1896)
Pictures of Classic Greek Landscape and Architecture
by J. Fulleylove, R.I. With a text in the explanation by H. W. Nevinson. (1897)
Scenes in the Thirty Days War between Greece and Turkey
1897. (1898)
Ladysmith. The Diary of a siege
(1900)
The Plea of Pan: Essays
(1901) * Between the Acts: Autobiographical and other sketches. (1904) * Sketches on the Old Road through France to Florence. By A. H. Hallam Murray, accompanied by H. W. Nevinson and Montgomery Carmichael. (Pt. 1 ranceby H. W. Nevinson. Pt. 2

taly Taly (russian: Талый) is a rural locality (a settlement) in Alexandrovskoye Urban Settlement, Alexandrovsky District, Perm Krai, Russia. The population was 17 as of 2010. There are 11 streets. Geography Taly is located 26 km southeast of ...

by M. Carmichael.) (1904) * Books And Personalities (1905) * Through the African Wilderness (1905) * A Modern Slavery (In Angola, San Thomé, and Principe) (1906) * The Dawn in Russia or Scenes in the Russian Revolution (1906) * The New Spirit In India (1908) * Essays In Freedom (1909) * The Fire of Prometheus (with Thomas Bird Mosher) (1909) * Women's Vote And Men (with Louise Norlund) (1910?) * Peace and war in the balance, delivered at South Place Institute on Dr Conway's birthday, 17 March 1911 (1911) * The Growth Of Freedom (1912) * Essays In Rebellion (1913) * Sir Roger Casement and Sinn Fein: some personal notes (1916) * The Dardanelles campaign (1918) * War And The Creative Impulse (with Max Plowman) (1919) * Lines Of Life (1920) * Original Sinners (1920)
Farewell To America
(Chapbook, 1922)
Changes and Chances
(With plates). (1923) * James Connolly: his life, work and writings (with Desmond Ryan) (1924) * Our sportive butchers: an animals welfare week address (Chapbook, 1925) * More Changes, More Chances (1925) * Henry W. Nevinson (Poetry chapbook, 1925) * Last Changes, last chances (1928) * England's voice of freedom: an anthology of liberty (vt. The voice of freedom; an anthology of liberty) (as Editor) (1929) * The English (1929) * Rough Islanders; or The Natives of England (vt. The Natives of England) (with C. R. W. Nevinson) (1930) * John Masefield (1931) * Goethe: Man And Poet (1932) * Ourselves; an essay introductory to twelve talks (Chapbook, 1933) * Where East is West (with Henrietta Leslie) 1933 * In the Dark Backward (1934) * Fire of Life (1935) * Between the Wars (1935) * Running Accompaniments: Autobiographical reminiscences (1936) * Hitler The Man (Chapbook, 1936) * Films of Time (1939) * Selected Poems (1940?) *

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Word ...

(1941) * A group of unpublished letters by Henry S. Salt to

Joseph Ishill Joseph Ishill (February 11, 1888 – March 14, 1966) was a Romanian-born Jewish anarchist typesetter and bookbinder who worked with The Modern School. A commercial typesetter for most of his life, Ishill is most well known for his work with The Or ...

(Editor, 1942) * Words and Deeds: Essays (1942) * ''Visions and Memories'' Edited by Evelyn Sharp. With an introduction by Gilbert Murray (1944) * Essays, Poems and Tales (edited by H. N. Brailsford) (1948)

References

* Angela V. John (2006), ''War, Journalism and the Shaping of the Twentieth Century: The Life and Times of Henry W. Nevinson''
Angela John's illustrated essay on ''Neighbours of Ours''
Nevinson's book of

short stories

Notes

External links

Page at ''Spartacus''
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nevinson, Henry 1856 births 1941 deaths British male journalists People associated with the Friends' Ambulance Unit English anti-fascists English socialists Chapbook writers Presidents of the English Centre of PEN