Ralph Crispian Marshall Arnold (26 October 1906 – 23 September 1970) was a British novelist, historical writer and (from 1936) publisher with
Constable and Co, where he rose to become chairman from 1958 until 1962.
['Mr Ralph Arnold', in ''The Times'', 24 September 1970, p. 12]
Education, war and publishing
Arnold was born at
Meopham Court in Kent, the son of solicitor Robert Anthony Arnold. His literary relatives included poet and journalist
Edwin Arnold
Sir Edwin Arnold KCIE CSI (10 June 183224 March 1904) was an English poet and journalist, who is most known for his work ''The Light of Asia''.[Edwin Lester Arnold
Edwin Lester Linden Arnold (14 May 1857 – 1 March 1935) was an English author. Most of his works were issued under his working name of Edwin Lester Arnold.
Life and literary career
Arnold was born in Swanscombe, Kent, as son of Sir Edwin Arnol ...]
. He was educated at the
Loretto School
Loretto School, founded in 1827, is an independent boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 0 to 18. The campus occupies in Musselburgh, East Lothian, Scotland.
History
The school was founded by the Reverend Thomas Langhorne in 1827. L ...
in Edinburgh and then at
Trinity College Oxford. For a time Arnold also attended the Tennerhof school in
Kitzbühel
Kitzbühel (, also: ; ) is a medieval town situated in the Kitzbühel Alps along the river Kitzbüheler Ache in Tyrol, Austria, about east of the state capital Innsbruck and is the administrative centre of the Kitzbühel district (). Kitzbühel ...
where future authors
Ian Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer who is best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., a ...
and
Nigel Dennis
Nigel Forbes Dennis (16 January 1912 – 19 July 1989) was an English writer, critic, playwright and magazine editor.
Life
Born at his grandfather's house in Surrey, England, Dennis was the son of Lt.-Col. Michael Frederic Beauchamp Dennis, DS ...
were also studying. Arnold kept up a long-standing friendship with Ian's brother
Peter Fleming.
He began his working career in 1929 at the
Royal Institute of International Affairs
Royal may refer to:
People
* Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name
* A member of a royal family
Places United States
* Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
* Royal, Illinois, a village
* Royal, Iowa, a cit ...
(better known today as Chatham House), but joined the publisher's Constable in 1936. Three years later he enlisted as second lieutenant in the
Cameronians. For a year (1939–40) he was personal assistant to
Lord Ironside, then Commander-in-Chief, Home Forces (and the model for John Buchan's character
Richard Hannay
Major-General Sir Richard Hannay, KCB, OBE, DSO, is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist John Buchan and further made popular by the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock film '' The 39 Steps'' (and other later film adaptations), very loosely b ...
). By the end of the war he had risen to the rank of colonel. His war reminiscences were later published in ''A Very Quiet War''.
[
After the war Arnold returned to his publishing career at Constable and Co, whose list included ]Sir Harold Nicolson
Sir Harold George Nicolson (21 November 1886 – 1 May 1968) was a British politician, diplomat, historian, biographer, diarist, novelist, lecturer, journalist, broadcaster, and gardener. His wife was the writer Vita Sackville-West.
Early lif ...
, Cecil Woodham-Smith
Cecil Blanche Woodham-Smith ( Fitzgerald; 29 April 1896 – 16 March 1977) CBE was a British historian and biographer. She wrote four popular history books, each dealing with a different aspect of the Victorian era.
Early life
Cecil Woodham-Smi ...
, Patrick Hamilton and Bruce Marshall
Lieutenant-Colonel Claude Cunningham Bruce Marshall, known as Bruce Marshall (24 June 1899 – 18 June 1987) was a prolific Scottish writer who wrote fiction and non-fiction books on a wide range of topics and genres. His first book, ''A Thief ...
. Constable also published his own books. He was appointed as chairman in 1958 and retired in 1962.[''Who's Who & Who Was Who'', online edition (2007)]
Writer
Arnold's writing followed in the tradition of John Buchan
John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir (; 26 August 1875 – 11 February 1940) was a Scottish novelist, historian, and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the 15th since Canadian Confederation.
After a brief legal career ...
and Dornford Yates
Cecil William Mercer (7 August 1885 – 5 March 1960), known by his pen name Dornford Yates, was an English writer and novelist whose novels and short stories, some humorous (the ''Berry'' books), some Thriller (genre), thrillers (the ''Chandos ...
, both of whom he admired. He wrote in several genres: light fiction, historical and autobiographical. His first novel, ''House with the Magnolia'', came out in 1931, but most of his writing was produced after the war. The light fiction includes the comedy set in an English village ''Hands across the Water'' (1946) and ''Spring List'' (1956), about two rival publishers fighting for the war memoirs of a famous general. His lighter works also include detective fiction (''Fish and Company'', 1951), short stories and adventure books for boys.[
As a historical writer Arnold began with local history in his home county of ]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 ...
(''The Hundred of Hoo'', 1947 and ''A Yeoman of Kent'', 1949). In ''The Unhappy Countess'' (1957) he told the story of the Bowes-Lyon family
The Bowes-Lyon family descends from George Bowes of Gibside and Streatlam Castle ''(1701–1760)'', a County Durham landowner and politician, through John Bowes, 9th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, chief of the Clan Lyon. Following the marriage ...
, specifically Mary Eleanor Bowes, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne. ''Northern Lights'' (1959) covered the Earl of Derwentwater
Earl of Derwentwater (pronounced "Durwentwater") was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1688 for Francis Radclyffe, 1st Earl of Derwentwater, Sir Francis Radclyffe, 3rd Baronet. He was made Baron Tyndale, of Tyndale in the Coun ...
and the 1715 Rising, while ''The Whiston Matter'' (1961) investigated the factual case of Rochester Cathedral Grammar School headmaster Robert Whiston, used by Trollope
The name Trollope is derived from the place-name Troughburn, in Northumberland, England, originally Trolhop, Norse for "troll valley". The earliest recorded use of the surname is John Andrew Trolope (1427–1461) who lived in Thornlaw, Co. Durh ...
as the basis of his novel ''The Warden
''The Warden'' is a novel by English author Anthony Trollope published by Longman in 1855. It is the first book in the '' Chronicles of Barsetshire'' series, followed by '' Barchester Towers''.
Synopsis
''The Warden'' concerns Mr Septimus Ha ...
''. ''Kings Bishops Knights and Pawns: Life in a Feudal Society'', a history book on life in the Middle Ages for young people, was published in 1963 and was commended for the Carnegie Medal. Arnold's ''A Social History of England 55 B.C. to 1215 A.D.'' was published in 1967.[
On his retirement from publishing, Arnold wrote two autobiographical works: ''A Very Quiet War'' (1962) and ''Orange Street and Brickhole Lane'' (1963), the latter covering his work at Constable. The firm, he said, "had a strangely endearing persona".
]
Personal life
Arnold married Constantia Pamela Fenwick (1905-1993) in 1936, the daughter of Mark Fenwick, owner of the country house Abbotswood in Gloucestershire from 1901 until his death in 1945. She was the author of ''Happy as Kings: The Story of the Fenwicks at Abbotswood 1905 to 1945'', published after her death in 1994. They lived at Meadow House in the village of Cobham, Kent, which is described in ''A Yeoman of Kent''.British Listed Buildings. Meadow House
/ref> In retirement they moved to Swerford
Swerford is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Swere in the Cotswold Hills in Oxfordshire, England. It is about northeast of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, Chipping Norton. Swerford has two main neighbourhoods: Ch ...
Old Rectory in the Cotswolds
The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale.
The area is defined by the bedrock of Jur ...
.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnold, Ralph
1906 births
1970 deaths
20th-century English novelists
English short story writers
People from Cobham, Kent