John Frederick Norman Hampson Simpson (26 March 1901 – 26 December 1955) was an English

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...

writing as John Hampson. Best known for his 1931 novel ''Saturday Night at the Greyhound'' – an unexpected success for

Hogarth Press The Hogarth Press is a book publishing imprint of Penguin Random House that was founded as an independent company in 1917 by British authors Leonard Woolf and Virginia Woolf. It was named after their house in Richmond (then in Surrey and n ...

– he was a member of a Birmingham Group of working-class authors that included

Walter Allen Walter Ernest Allen (23 February 1911 – 28 February 1995) was an English literary critic and novelist and one of the Birmingham Group of authors. He is best known for his classic study ''The English Novel: a Short Critical History'' (1951). ...

, Leslie Halward,

Walter Brierley Walter Henry Brierley (1862–1926) was a York architect who practised in the city for 40 years. He is known as "the Yorkshire Lutyens" or the "Lutyens of the North". He is also credited with being a leading exponent of the " Wrenaissance ...

and Peter Chamberlain.

Early life

Hampson was born in Handsworth in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

. His elder brother was a motorcycle racer, Jimmy Simpson (James Hampson-Simpson). Prevented by ill health from completing his formal education, Hampson worked in a munitions factory in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and held a variety of jobs in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

and

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

in subsequent years, such as a waiter, a chef and a billiard-marker, and running a

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

with his sister. A conviction for

shoplifting Shoplifting is the theft of goods from an open retail establishment, typically by concealing a store item on one's person, in pockets, under clothes or in a bag, and leaving the store without paying. With clothing, shoplifters may put on items ...

books meant serving a prison term in

Wormwood Scrubs Wormwood Scrubs, known locally as The Scrubs (or simply Scrubs), is an open space in Old Oak Common located in the north-eastern corner of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London. It is the largest open space in the borough, ...

. In 1925 he was offered employment by a wealthy family in

Dorridge Dorridge is a large village in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the West Midlands (county), England. Historically part of the historic counties of England, historic county of Warwickshire, the village is encompassed within the electoral wa ...

Solihull Solihull (, or ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census. Solihull is situated on the River Blyth ...

, as a residential nurse and companion for their son Ronald, who had

Down syndrome Down syndrome or Down's syndrome, also known as trisomy 21, is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. It is usually associated with physical growth delays, mild to moderate intellectual dis ...

. The security provided allowed him to start writing. He made a number of literary friends, including Forrest Reid, J. R. Ackerley,

William Plomer William Charles Franklyn Plomer (10 December 1903 – 20 September 1973) was a South African and British novelist, poet and literary editor. He also wrote a series of librettos for Benjamin Britten. He wrote some of his poetry under the pseud ...

John Lehmann Rudolf John Frederick Lehmann (2 June 1907 – 7 April 1987) was an English poet and man of letters. He founded the periodicals ''New Writing'' and '' The London Magazine'', and the publishing house of John Lehmann Limited. Biography Born i ...

, and

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 ...

Work

On Plomer's advice Hampson sent three manuscripts to

Leonard Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English masculine given name and a surname. The given name and surname originate from the Old High German ''Leonhard'' containing the prefix ''levon'' ("lion") from the Greek Λέων ("lion") through the Latin '' L ...

and

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born i ...

. Though seeing the longer ''O Providence'' as "much the better book", they selected ''Saturday Night at the Greyhound'' as most suitable first publication. The third manuscript was ''Go Seek a Stranger'', the first novel Hampson had written, which remained unpublished due to its explicit homosexual subject-matter, although Virginia Woolf later remarked, in a letter to

"I still think his first purely sodomitic novel the best." Although the Woolfs saw Hampson as a good writer, they had been pessimistic about his commercial potential, but ''Saturday Night at the Greyhound'' proved a success critically and in terms of sales – quickly selling out its first print run and gaining two reprints in its first six months. Its later paperback by

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.Alfred Knopf and in France by Gallimard and republished again in 1950 and 1986. His short stories were published in prestigious literary magazines through the 1930s, but his second published novel ''O Providence'' sold less well than his first, and his next – ''Foreign English'', based on a 1931 trip to Berlin – was rejected by Hogarth Press, which he subsequently left for Heinemann. He published five more novels, but none matched the success of his first. In 1933, through the American critic Edward J. O'Brien, Hampson met

and other writers who came to be known as the Birmingham Group including Leslie Halward, Peter Chamberlain and Walter Brierley, whose novel ''Means Test Man'' Hampson provided assistance with. Hampson became a committed anti-Nazi after a visit to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

in 1933, and in 1936 at the suggestion of

W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...

Hampson married the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

actress

Therese Giehse Therese Giehse (; 6 March 1898 – 3 March 1975), born Therese Gift, was a German actress. Born in Munich to German-Jewish parents, she first appeared on the stage in 1920. She became a major star on stage, in films, and in political cabaret. In t ...

, so that she could obtain a British passport and escape from

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. (After

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 opposing ...

she returned to Germany unaccompanied by him and survived him until 1975.) Hampson worked for the

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. ...

...

during World War II and visited India in 1948. Hampson had a notable appearance: very small stature, a protruding lower jaw, searching eyes; he invariably dressed entirely in shades of brown and normally wrote in brown ink.

Death

The death of his employer in 1955 saw him leave the house in Dorridge when it was sold, and he died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

, lonely and virtually homeless, on 26 December.

Works

*''Go Find a Stranger'' unpublished, manuscript believed lost *''Saturday Night at the Greyhound'' London (1931) (Reprinted, Penguin (1937),

Valancourt Books Valancourt Books is an independent American publishing house founded by James Jenkins and Ryan Cagle in 2005. The company specializes in "the rediscovery of rare, neglected, and out-of-print fiction," in particular gay titles and Gothic and ho ...

2014) Gallimard, Paris (?date) tr. Marie-Jeanne Viel as ''Samedi Soir Au Greyhound'', tr.

Tartessos Tartessos ( es, Tarteso) is, as defined by archaeological discoveries, a historical civilization settled in the region of Southern Spain characterized by its mixture of local Paleohispanic and Phoenician traits. It had a proper writing system ...

, 1943 as ''Noche de Sabado en Greyhoud'' *"The Sight of Blood" (1931) Story *''Two Stories (The Mare's Nest & The Long Shadow) (1931) *''O Providence'' (1932) *''Strip Jack Naked'' London (1934); New York (1934) published as ''Brothers and Lovers'' *"Man About the House" London 1935 (285 copies) Story *''The Family Curse'' London (1936), New York (1936) *"The Larches" 1938 with L. A. Pavey *''Care of The Grand'' (1939) *''The English at Table'' (1944) (in the ''Britain in Pictures'' series) *''A Bag of Stones'' (1952)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hampson, John Writers from Birmingham, West Midlands 1901 births 1955 deaths 20th-century English novelists English male novelists 20th-century English male writers People from Handsworth, West Midlands