Richard Barham Middleton (28 October 1882 – 1 December 1911) was an English poet and author. He is remembered most for his short ghost stories, in particular "The Ghost Ship".

Biography

Born in

Staines, Middlesex Staines-upon-Thames is a market town in northwest Surrey, England, around west of central London. It is in the Borough of Spelthorne, at the confluence of the River Thames and Colne. Historically part of Middlesex, the town was transferred to ...

, Middleton was educated at Cranbrook School,

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 ...

. He then worked as a clerk at the

Royal Exchange Assurance Corporation The Royal Exchange Assurance, founded in 1720, was a British insurance company. It took its name from the location of its offices at the Royal Exchange, London. Origins The Royal Exchange Assurance emerged from a joint stock insurance enterpr ...

bank in London from 1901 to 1907. Unhappy with that, he affected a

Bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

life at night – he is mentioned, in disguised terms, in

Arthur Ransome Arthur Michell Ransome (18 January 1884 – 3 June 1967) was an English author and journalist. He is best known for writing and illustrating the ''Swallows and Amazons'' series of children's books about the school-holiday adventures of childre ...

's ''Bohemia in London''. He moved out of his parents' house into rooms in Blackfriars and joined the New Bohemians, a club where he acquired literary contacts, including

Arthur Machen Arthur Machen (; 3 March 1863 – 15 December 1947) was the pen-name of Arthur Llewellyn Jones, a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. Hi ...

, Louis McQuilland (1880–1946) and Christopher Wilson. Middleton became an editor at '' Vanity Fair'' under

Edgar Jepson Edgar Alfred Jepson (28 November 1863 – 12 April 1938) was an English author. He largely wrote mainstream adventure and detective fiction, but also supernatural and fantasy stories. He sometimes used the pseudonym R. Edison Page. Early life E ...

, where he confided to his fellow editor

Frank Harris Frank Harris (14 February 1855 – 26 August 1931) was an Irish-American editor, novelist, short story writer, journalist and publisher, who was friendly with many well-known figures of his day. Born in Ireland, he emigrated to the United State ...

that he really wanted to make a living as a poet. Shortly afterwards, Harris published Middleton's poem "The Bathing Boy":Frank Harris (1915) ''Contemporary Portraits'', Mitchell Kennerley, New York. His work was also published by

Austin Harrison Austin Frederic Harrison (1873–1928) was a British journalist and editor, best known for his editorship of ''The English Review'' from 1909 until 1923. Biography Early life and career Born in London, Harrison was the son of the author and jur ...

in ''

The English Review ''The English Review'' was an English-language literary magazine published in London from 1908 to 1937. At its peak, the journal published some of the leading writers of its day. History The magazine was started by 1908 by Ford Madox Hueffer (lat ...

'', and he wrote book reviews for '' The Academy''.Henry Savage (1922) ''Richard Middleton: The Man And His Work'', Cecil Palmer, London. Middleton suffered from severe depression, then termed melancholia. He spent his last nine months in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, where in December 1911 he took his life by poisoning himself with

chloroform Chloroform, or trichloromethane, is an organic compound with chemical formula, formula Carbon, CHydrogen, HChlorine, Cl3 and a common organic solvent. It is a colorless, strong-smelling, dense liquid produced on a large scale as a precursor to ...

, which had been prescribed as a remedy for his condition. His literary reputation was sustained by Edgar Jepson and Arthur Machen, the latter in an introduction to Middleton's collection '' The Ghost Ship and Other Stories'', and later by

John Gawsworth Terence Ian Fytton Armstrong (29 June 1912 – 23 September 1970), better known as John Gawsworth (and also sometimes known as T. I. F. Armstrong), was a British writer, poet and compiler of anthologies, both of poetry and of short stories. He ...

. His stories appeared in several anthologies. An encounter with Middleton is said to have persuaded the young

Raymond Chandler Raymond Thornton Chandler (July 23, 1888 – March 26, 1959) was an American-British novelist and screenwriter. In 1932, at the age of forty-four, Chandler became a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive durin ...

to postpone his career as a writer. Chandler wrote, "Middleton struck me as having far more talent than I was ever likely to possess; and if he couldn't make a go of it, it wasn't very likely that I could."Raymond Chandler: ''Raymond Chandler Speaking'', Dorothy Gardiner, Kathrine Sorley Walker (ed.), p. 24,

Houghton Mifflin Company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (; HMH) is an American publisher of textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, reference works, and fiction and non-fiction for both young readers and adults. The company is based in the Boston Financ ...

, 1962, .

Works

*''Poems and Songs'' (1912) *''Poems and Songs Second Series'' (1912) *''The Day Before Yesterday'' (essays, 1912) *'' The Ghost Ship and Other Stories'' (1912) *''Monologues'' (1913) *''Queen Melanie and the Woodboy'' (novel, 1931) *''The Pantomime Man'' (stories, 1933) *''Richard Middleton'' (poems, 1937),

Richards Press Terence Ian Fytton Armstrong (29 June 1912 – 23 September 1970), better known as John Gawsworth (and also sometimes known as T. I. F. Armstrong), was a British writer, poet and compiler of anthologies, both of poetry and of short stories. He a ...

References

Sources

*''Richard Middleton's Letters to Henry Savage'' (1929,

Mandrake Press The Mandrake Press was a British small press founded by Edward Goldston and P. R. Stephensen in 1929. In 1930 the company had financial problems and a consortium led by Aleister Crowley formed Mandrake Press Ltd to take it over. The consortium w ...

) edited by Henry Savage *Henry Savage
''Richard Middleton: The Man And His Work''
(1922, London: Cecil Palmer)

External links

* * *
"On The Brighton Road"
Creative Commons Audio Book. *Stephen Wayne Foster: A Poet's Deat
Retrieved 22 October 2016.
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Middleton, Richard 1882 births 1911 suicides English short story writers English horror writers People educated at Cranbrook School, Kent Ghost story writers English male short story writers English male poets 20th-century English poets 20th-century British short story writers 20th-century English male writers 1911 deaths Suicides by poison Suicides in Belgium