Horace Annesley Vachell (30 October 1861 – 10 January 1955) was a prolific English writer of novels, plays, short stories, essays and autobiographical works.

Biography

Born in

Sydenham Sydenham may refer to: Places Australia * Sydenham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Sydenham railway station, Sydney * Sydenham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne ** Sydenham railway line, the name of the Sunbury railway line, Melbourne ...

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 ...

on 30 October 1861, he was educated at Harrow and Sandhurst. After a short period in the

Rifle Brigade The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle ...

, he went to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

where he became partner in a land company and married Lydie Phillips, his partner's daughter. His wife died in 1895 after the birth of their second child, Lydie Lyttelton Annesley Vachell. He is said to have introduced the game of

polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...

to Southern California. After 17 years abroad, by 1900 Vachell had returned to England. He went on to write over 50 volumes of fiction including a popular school story, ''The Hill'' (1905), which gives an idealised view of life at Harrow and of the friendship between two boys. He also wrote 22 plays, the most successful of which in his lifetime was '' Quinneys'' (1914), made into a film in 1919 and again in 1927. A 90 minute BBC television adaptation was broadcast in 1948 and another in 1956. The BBC also broadcast numerous radio adaptations over the years. 'Quinneys' was first published as a book by John Murray, London in 1914. It was "a book of friends; of quaint human characters against the background of a shop for faked antiques and genuine love." The same characters featured in three subsequent books and other magazine stories. Another play, ''The Case of Lady Camber'' (1915), was the basis for the film ''

Lord Camber's Ladies ''Lord Camber's Ladies'' (1932) is a British drama film directed by Benn W. Levy, produced by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Gerald du Maurier, Gertrude Lawrence, Benita Hume, and Nigel Bruce. Plot An aristocrat marries a singer, but then tries ...

'' (1932), produced by

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

but not directed by him. It was later adapted again as ''

The Story of Shirley Yorke ''The Story of Shirley Yorke'' is a 1948 British drama film directed by Maclean Rogers and starring Derek Farr, Dinah Sheridan and Margaretta Scott. The film was based on the play '' The Case of Lady Camber'' by Horace Annesley Vachell. It w ...

''. Vachell's last autobiographical book, ''More from Methuselah'' (1951), was published in the year of his 90th birthday. Although some fiction, like the stories in ''Bunch Grass'' (1912), is set in American

ranch A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most often ...

ing country, much of his writing concerns a comfortably prosperous English way of life which was echoed in Widcombe Manor, his beautiful old house near

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

, and his old-fashioned, distinguished appearance and manner. He was a fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, th ...

. He died on 10 January 1955 in Bath, and is buried in the churchyard of St Thomas à Becket, adjacent to Widcombe Manor.

Works

Many of his works first appeared in serialisations in ''

Cassell's Magazine ''Cassell's Magazine'' is a British magazine that was published monthly from 1897 to 1912. It was the successor to ''Cassell's Illustrated Family Paper'', (1853–1867) becoming ''Cassell's Family Magazine'' in 1874, ''Cassell's Magazine'' in 1897 ...

'', ''

The Cornhill Magazine ''The Cornhill Magazine'' (1860–1975) was a monthly Victorian magazine and literary journal named after the street address of the founding publisher Smith, Elder & Co. at 65 Cornhill in London.Laurel Brake and Marysa Demoor, ''Dictionary ...

'', ''

The Pall Mall Magazine ''The Pall Mall Magazine'' was a monthly British literary magazine published between 1893 and 1914. Begun by William Waldorf Astor as an offshoot of ''The Pall Mall Gazette'', the magazine included poetry, short stories, serialized fiction, and ge ...

'', ''

Pearson's Magazine ''Pearson's Magazine'' was a monthly periodical that first appeared in Britain in 1896. A US version began publication in 1899. It specialised in speculative literature, political discussion, often of a socialist bent, and the arts. Its contribut ...

'', ''

The Strand Magazine ''The Strand Magazine'' was a monthly British magazine founded by George Newnes, composed of short fiction and general interest articles. It was published in the United Kingdom from January 1891 to March 1950, running to 711 issues, though the ...

'', ''

The Windsor Magazine ''The Windsor Magazine'' was a monthly illustrated publication produced by Ward Lock & Co from January 1895 to September 1939 (537 issues). The title page described it as "An Illustrated Monthly for Men and Women". It was bound as six-monthly ...

'' and other contemporary magazines.

Books

* ''A Drama in Sunshine'', (1898) * ''The Procession of Life'', (1899) * ''John Charity: A Romance of Yesterday'', (1900) * ''Life and Sport on the Pacific Slope'', (1901) * ''The Pinch of Prosperity: A Study of Some Twisted Lives'', (1903) * ''The Hill: A Romance of Friendship'', (1905) * ''The Face of Clay: An Interpretation'', (1906) * ''Her Son'', (1907) * ''The Waters of Jordan'', (1908) * ''The Impending Sword: An Adventure by the Sea'', (1909) * ''John Verney'', (1911) * ''Bunch Grass: A Chronicle of Life on a Cattle Ranch'', (1912) * ''Blinds Down: A Chronicle of Charminster'', (1912) *''Humpty Dumpty'' (date unknown) * ''Quinneys'', (1914) *''Searchlights'' (1915) *''The Case of Lady Camber'' (1915) *''Who is he?'' (1915) *''Pen'' (1916) *''Mrs Pomeroy's Reputation'' (1916) *''Mr Jubilee Drax'' (1916) *''The Mirror'' (1917) * ''Fishpingle: A Romance of the Countryside'', (1917) * ''Whitewash'', (1920) * ''The Fourth Dimension'', (1920) * ''Change Partners'', (1923) * ''Quinney's Adventures'', (1924) * ''Miss Torrobin's Experiment'', (1928) * ''The Homely Art (an essay on furnishing)'', James Shoolbred & Co, (1928) * ''At The Sign of the Grid'', (1931) – serialised in ''

'' (July 1930 to April 1931) * ''Arising Out of That'', (1935) * ''Joe Quinney's Jodie'', (1936) – serialised in ''The Windsor Magazine'' (September 1935 to September 1936) * ''Quinneys for Quality'', (1938) – serialised in ''The Windsor Magazine'' (October 1937 to September 1938) * ''Averil'', (1945) Source:

References

External links

* * * * * (1919) * (1927)
''Quinneys''
at

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

(1948) * https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/6d4eac535ba54b2c948beb057ff9c076 ''Quinneys'' (1956) {{DEFAULTSORT:Vachell, Horace Annesley English writers 1861 births 1955 deaths People educated at Harrow School People from Sydenham, London Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Rifle Brigade officers Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst

Biography

Works

Books

References

Further reading

External links