John Drinkwater (1 June 1882 – 25 March 1937) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

and

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

. He was known before

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 ...

as one of the

Dymock poets The Dymock poets were a literary group of the early 20th century who made their homes near the village of Dymock in Gloucestershire, in England, near to the border with Herefordshire. Significant figures and events The 'Dymock Poets' are genera ...

, and his poetry was included in all five volumes of ''

Georgian Poetry Georgian Poetry refers to a series of anthologies showcasing the work of a school of English poetry that established itself during the early years of the reign of King George V of the United Kingdom. The Georgian poets were, by the strictest ...

'' (edited by Edward Marsh, 1912-1922). After World War I, he achieved fame as a playwright and became closely associated with

Birmingham Repertory Theatre Birmingham Repertory Theatre, commonly called Birmingham Rep or just The Rep, is a producing theatre based on Centenary Square in Birmingham, England. Founded by Barry Jackson, it is the longest-established of Britain's building-based theatre c ...

Life and career

Drinkwater was born in

Leytonstone Leytonstone () is an area in east London, England, north-east of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest, a local authority district of Greater London. It adjoins Wanstead to the north-east, Forest Gate to the south-east, S ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

(now

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

), to actor/author Albert Edwin Drinkwater (1851–1923) and Annie Beck (''née'' Brown), and worked as an insurance clerk. In the period immediately before the

First World War 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 ...

, he was one of the group of poets associated with the

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

village of

Dymock Dymock is a village and civil parish in the Forest of Dean district of Gloucestershire, England, about four miles south of Ledbury. In 2014 the parish had an estimated population of 1,205. Dymock is the origin of the Dymock Red, a cider apple ...

, along with

Rupert Brooke Rupert Chawner Brooke (3 August 1887 – 23 April 1915)The date of Brooke's death and burial under the Julian calendar that applied in Greece at the time was 10 April. The Julian calendar was 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar. was an En ...

Lascelles Abercrombie Lascelles Abercrombie, (9 January 1881 – 27 October 1938) was a British poet and literary critic, one of the "Dymock poets". After the First World War he worked as a professor of English literature in a number of English universities, w ...

and others. In 1918, he had his first major success with his play ''

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

''. He followed it with others in a similar vein, including ''Mary Stuart'' and ''Oliver Cromwell''. He had published poetry since ''The Death of Leander'' in 1906; the first volume of his ''Collected Poems'' was published in 1923. He also compiled anthologies and wrote literary criticism (e.g. ''Swinburne: an estimate'' (1913)), and later became manager of

. He was married to

Daisy Kennedy Daisy Fowler Kennedy (16 January 1893 – 30 July 1981) was an Australian-born concert violinist. She was born in Burra-Burra, 160 km north of Adelaide, to parents of Scottish and Irish descent.A. Eaglefield-Hull (Ed.), ''A Dictionar ...

, the ex-wife of Benno Moiseiwitsch, with whom he had a daughter named Penny. John Drinkwater made recordings in

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

' International Educational Society Lecture series. They include Lecture 10 – a lecture on ''The Speaking of Verse'' (four 78rpm sides, Cat no. D 40018-40019), and Lecture 70 ''John Drinkwater reading his own poems'' (four 78rpm sides, Cat no. D 40140-40141).

Death and commemoration

Piddington StNicholas GravestoneDrinkwater

Drinkwater died in London in 1937. He is buried at

Piddington, Oxfordshire Piddington is a village and civil parish about southeast of Bicester in Oxfordshire, England. It lies close to the border with Buckinghamshire. Its toponym has been attributed to the Old English ''Pyda's tun''. The 2011 Census recorded the ...

, where he had spent summer holidays as a child. A road in Leytonstone, formerly a 1960s

council estate Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...

, is named after Drinkwater, as is a small development of modern houses in Piddington.

Notes

External links

John Drinkwater memorial siteSpecial Collections and Archives Catalogue
University of Gloucestershire Archives and Special Collections * * *

* * Archival Material at
Plays by John Drinkwater
a
Great War Theatre
* John Drinkwater Collection. General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University 1882 births 1937 deaths People educated at the City of Oxford High School for Boys People from Leytonstone English male dramatists and playwrights English male poets 20th-century English poets 20th-century English dramatists and playwrights 20th-century English male writers {{england-writer-stub