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Stuart Petre Brodie Mais (4 July 1885 – 21 April 1975), known publicly as S. P. B. Mais, was a British author, journalist and broadcaster. He was an author of travel books and guides, and had an informal style that made him popular with the general public.
Biography
Petre Mais, as he was known in his personal life,
["SPB Mais", Nicholas Shakespeare, in The Best Australian Essays 2002, ed. Peter Craven, Black Inc., 2002, p. 208] was the son of Rev. John Brodie Stuart Mais, curate of
St Margaret's,
Ladywood
Ladywood is an inner-city district next to central Birmingham. Historically in Warwickshire, in June 2004, Birmingham City Council conducted a citywide "Ward Boundary Revision" to round-up the thirty-nine Birmingham wards to forty. As a result o ...
,
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. ...
and his wife Hannah Horden (née Tamlin). He was born at Ladywood, but raised in
Tansley
Tansley is a village on the southern edge of the Derbyshire Peak District, two miles east of Matlock.
History
Tansley is recorded in the Domesday Book as Taneslege, and its name comes from the combination of the Old English elements ''tān'' a ...
, Derbyshire, where his family relocated on his father's appointment as rector there in 1890.
[Who's Who Among Living Authors of Older Nations, vol. I 1931-1932, ed. A. Lawrence, Golden Syndicate Publishing Company, 1932, p. 267]
He was educated at
Denstone College
Denstone College is a mixed, independent, boarding and day school in Denstone, Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, England. It is a Woodard School, having been founded by Nathaniel Woodard, and so Christian traditions are practised as part of Colleg ...
, Staffordshire, then read English Literature at
Christ Church, Oxford (BA 1909,
MA 1913)
After teaching at
Rossall
Rossall is a settlement in Lancashire, England and a suburb of the market town of Fleetwood. It is situated on a coastal plain called The Fylde. Blackpool Tramway runs through Rossall, with two stations: Rossall School on Broadway and Rossall Squ ...
,
Sherborne and Tonbridge, and
Royal Air Force College Cranwell
The Royal Air Force College (RAFC) is the Royal Air Force military academy which provides initial training to all RAF personnel who are preparing to become commissioned officers. The College also provides initial training to aircrew cadets and ...
, he later worked for
National Press at Fleet Street.
A prolific author of over 200 books, he also broadcast for numerous wireless programmes 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. ...
...
between the 1920s and 1940s. Mais was an ardent campaigner for the English countryside and traditions, leading walks for people who came for a day trip by train from big cities, often from London.
Mais worked as a journalist for ''
The Oxford Times
''The Oxford Times'' is a weekly newspaper, published each Thursday in Oxford, England. Originally a broadsheet, it switched to the compact format in 2008. The paper is published from a large production facility at Osney Mead, west Oxford, a ...
'' newspaper, and also for the BBC as a radio broadcaster, most famously on the ''Kitchen Front'' radio show that aired after the morning news during World War Two. He presented ''Letter from America'' from 1933, 13 years before a similar concept was made famous by
Alistair Cooke
Alistair Cooke (born Alfred Cooke; 20 November 1908 – 30 March 2004) was a British-American writer whose work as a journalist, television personality and radio broadcaster was done primarily in the United States.[Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...]
'' writer Sebastian Shakespeare, who wrote of his grandfather:
Personal life
In 1913, Mais married Doris Snow; they had two daughters: Priscilla (1916–1982) and Vivien (born 1920). After their separation (they never divorced), he had a relationship with Winifred Doughty (1905–1993), who changed her name by deed poll to Gillian ("Jill") Mais; they also had two daughters. After becoming dissatisfied with living standards in the tiny retirement home at
Lindfield, Sussex
Lindfield is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. The parish lies to the north-east of Haywards Heath, and stands on the upper reaches of the River Ouse. The name 'Lindfield' means 'open land with li ...
that had been offered to the penniless Mais by the Samaritan Housing Association, along with Mais's refusal to marry her, Jill left Mais for a mutual friend,
Dudley Carew, whom she married, and lived with him across the road from Mais, taking him meals.
["SPB Mais", Nicholas Shakespeare, in The Best Australian Essays 2002, ed. Peter Craven, Black Inc., 2002, pp. 207-208]
Death
Mais died on 21 April 1975 at his retirement accommodation
Lindfield, Sussex
Lindfield is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. The parish lies to the north-east of Haywards Heath, and stands on the upper reaches of the River Ouse. The name 'Lindfield' means 'open land with li ...
.
Bibliography
Critical works
* ''Delight in Books'' (1931)
* ''A Chronicle of English Literature'' (1936)
Novels
* ''The Education of a Philanderer'' (1919)
* ''Prunello'' (1924)
* ''Eclipse'' (1925)
* ''Perissa'' (1925)
* ''Orange Street'' (1926)
* ''Light over Lundy'' (1938)
Travel books
These include:
* ''See England First'' (1927)
* ''Do you know North Cornwall? My finest holiday'' (1927 for the Southern Railway)
* ''The
Cornish Riviera'' (1928 for the
Great Western Railway)
* ''Glorious Devon'' (1928 for the Great Western Railway)
* ''North Wales'' (1928 for the
London Midland and Scottish Railway
The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally ...
)
* ''Sussex'' 1929
* ''It isn't far from London'' (1930)
* ''Southern rambles for Londoners'' (1931 for the
Southern Railway)
* ''The Highlands of Britain'' (1932)
* ''This unknown island'' (1932)
* ''Week-ends in England'' (1933)
* ''Isles of the island'' (1934)
* ''England's pleasance'' (1935)
* ''Lovely Britain edited'' (1935)
* ''Round about England'' (1935)
* ''Southern schools'' (1935 for the Southern Railway)
* ''Pictorial Britain and Ireland'' (ca1936 for the Anglo-American Oil Co –
Esso)
* ''England's Character'' (1936)
* ''A.C.E: the
Atlantic Coast Express'' (1937 for the Southern Railway)
* ''Britain calling'' (1938)
* ''Let's get out here'' (1938 for the Southern Railway)
* ''Walking in Somerset'' (1938)
* ''Highways and Byways in the Welsh Marches'' (1939)
* ''Hills of the South'' (1939)
* ''I Return to Scotland'' (1947)
* ''I Return to Switzerland'' (1948)
* ''I Return to Ireland'' (1948)
* ''I Return to Wales'' (1949)
* ''Little England Beyond Wales'' (1949)
* ''The Land of The Cinque Ports'' (illus. by
Rowland Hilder
Rowland Frederick Hilder OBE (28 June 1905 – 21 April 1993) was an English landscape artist, and book illustrator.
Early life
He was born in New York to Roland and Kitty Hilder (née Fissenden). Following the outbreak of World War 1, ...
) (1949)
* ''The Riviera – New Look and Old'' (1950)
* ''We Wander in the West'' (1950)
* ''Arden and Avon'' (1951)
* ''Norwegian Odyssey'' (1951)
* ''The Channel Islands'' (1953)
* ''Our Village Today'' (1956)
* ''Majorcan Holiday'' (with Gillian Mais) (1956)
Further reading
* (autobiography)
* (autobiography)
*
* There are many references to Mais in this book about his daughter, the author's aunt.
*
References
External links
Eugene Suggett: An 80th anniversary*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mais, Petre
1885 births
1975 deaths
20th-century English non-fiction writers
English travel writers
English broadcasters
People from Derbyshire Dales (district)
English male non-fiction writers
People from Ladywood
20th-century English male writers
People from Lindfield, West Sussex