Robert Maynard Leonard (10 May 1869 – 13 July 1941), sometimes credited as R. Maynard Leonard, was an English journalist, editor, and light poet, the editor of many anthologies of English verse.

Early life

The Leonards were a family of merchants long established in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, dealing in rope and twine, tobacco, iron, paint, and wagons.E. Liveing, ''Carless, Capel & Leonard'', pp. 8–12 Leonard was the son of the Rev. Henry Charles Leonard, Baptist minister of

Boxmoor Boxmoor is part of Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire. It is within the district of Dacorum and comprises mainly 19th-century housing and meadowland, with transport links from London to the Midlands. At the 2011 Census, the population of Boxmoor wa ...

Hemel Hempstead Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of London, which is part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2011 census was 97,500. Developed after the Second World War as a ne ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

. He was educated at

Amersham Hall Amersham Hall was a "school for the sons of dignified gentlemen" in England. From 1829 to 1861 it was in Elmodesham House in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, relocating in 1861 to Caversham in Oxfordshire. The Caversham site, a suburb in the north o ...

and

University College, Bristol University College, Bristol was an educational institution which existed from 1876 to 1909. It was the predecessor institution to the University of Bristol, which gained a royal charter in 1909. During its time the college mainly served the midd ...

.“LEONARD, Robert Maynard” in ''The Institution of Mechanical Engineers: Proposals for Membership'' (1900)
p. 7
/ref>

Career

After completing his education, Leonard became a journalist and worked for ''

The Pall Mall Gazette ''The Pall Mall Gazette'' was an evening newspaper founded in London on 7 February 1865 by George Murray Smith; its first editor was Frederick Greenwood. In 1921, '' The Globe'' merged into ''The Pall Mall Gazette'', which itself was absorbed int ...

'', ''

The Westminster Gazette ''The Westminster Gazette'' was an influential Liberal newspaper based in London. It was known for publishing sketches and short stories, including early works by Raymond Chandler, Anthony Hope, D. H. Lawrence, Katherine Mansfield, and Saki, an ...

'', and other papers. In 1898, he founded the Cold Storage and Ice Association, of which he was Secretary, and also established ''Cold Storage and Ice Trades Review'', of which he was editor. In 1900, on the strength of this, he was elected as an Associate of the

Institution of Mechanical Engineers The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) is an independent professional association and learned society headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that represents mechanical engineers and the engineering profession. With over 120,000 member ...

. He was also a member of the

Institute of Journalists The Chartered Institute of Journalists is a professional association for journalists and is the senior such body in the UK and the oldest in the world. History The ''Chartered Institute of Journalists'' was proposed during a meeting in Manches ...

. Leonard's anthologies of verse began with ''The Dog in British Poetry'' (1893). The popularity of his ''A Book of Light Verse'', published by Henry Frowde in 1910, quickly led on to ''The Pageant of English Poetry'' and ''The Pageant of English Prose'' for the

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, which also commissioned a series of collections of specialist verse under the title ''Oxford Garlands'', published between 1914 and 1915. Many of these works went into several editions.

Private life

In 1898, at

Holborn Holborn ( or ) is a district in central London, which covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part ( St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London. The area has its roots ...

, R. M. Leonard married Amy Fagg. They had two sons, Julian Maynard and Antony Maynard, and a daughter, Ruth Maynard, and settled at The Larches,

Purley, Surrey Purley is an area of the London Borough of Croydon in London, England, south of Charing Cross, with a history going back at least 800 years. It was originally granted as an estate from holdings at Sanderstead and until as a district of Surrey ...

. After the University of London, Leonard’s son Julian Maynard Leonard (1907–1978) joined and eventually became a partner in Carless, Capel & Leonard, the long-established Bristol oil refinery of his great uncles John Hare Leonard and William Leonard, at one time the leading British oil distillery. In 1893, the company had applied unsuccessfully to trademark the word Petrol. Neither brother had a son, and in 1916 William Leonard was searching for an heir and chose Julian Maynard Leonard. Antony Maynard Leonard joined the

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) was established in 1936 to support the preparedness of the U.K. Royal Air Force in the event of another war. The Air Ministry intended it to form a supplement to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF ...

and in July 1943 was promoted to

pilot officer Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countri ...

. He was killed in action on the night of 26 November 1943, when his plane was attacked by a German fighter and brought down near Frankfurt. Leonard died at home, 37, The Pryors,

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

, on 13 July 1941, leaving an estate valued at £3,988.

Anthologies of verse

*''The Dog in British Poetry'' (1893, reprinted by Chronicle Books, 2005, )The Dog in British Poetry
hardiegrant.com, accessed 14 March 2021 *''A Book of Light Verse. Edited by R.M. Leonard'' (London: Henry Frowde, 1910) *''The Pageant of English Poetry: Being 1150 Poems and Extracts by 300 Authors'' (Oxford University Press, 1911) *''Oxford Garlands: Sonnets selected by R. M. Leonard'' (Oxford University Press, 1914) *''Oxford Garlands: Patriotic Poems selected by R. M. Leonard'' (Oxford University Press, 1914) *''Oxford Garlands: Poems on Life selected by R. M. Leonard'' (Oxford University Press, 1914) *''Oxford Garlands: Love Poems selected by R. M. Leonard'' (Oxford University Press, 1914) *''Oxford Garlands: Poems on Sport selected by R. M. Leonard'' (Oxford University Press, 1914) *''Oxford Garlands: Poems on Travel selected by R. M. Leonard'' (Oxford University Press, 1914) *''Oxford Garlands: Religious Poems selected by R. M. Leonard'' (Oxford University Press, 1914) *''Oxford Garlands: Epigrams selected by R. M. Leonard'' (Oxford University Press, 1915) *''Oxford Garlands: Songs for Music selected by R. M. Leonard'' (Oxford University Press, 1915) *''Modern Lays and Ballads'' (reprinted 2009) *''Elegies & Epitaphs'' (reprinted by Leopold Classic Library, 2015 )

Selected other works

* R. M. Leonard, ''The Book-lover's anthology'' (H. Frowde : Oxford University Press, 1911) *''A Century of Parody and Imitation'', ed. with

Walter Jerrold Walter Copeland Jerrold (3 May 1865 – 27 October 1929) was an English writer, biographer and newspaper editor. Early life Jerrold was born in Liverpool, the son of Thomas Serle Jerrold and Jane Matilda Copeland (who were first cousins), and on ...

(H. Milford, Oxford University Press, 1913; reprinted by Ulan Press, 2012) *Robert Maynard Leonard, ''The War Against Bribery'' (London: Bribery and Secret Commissions Prevention League, 1913) *Robert Maynard Leonard, ''The Patriot's Diary'' (Oxford University Press, 1915) * R. M. Leonard, ''Bribery'' (Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1919) *Robert Maynard Leonard, ''Bribery and Its Prevention in England and Elsewhere'' (London: Bribery and Secret Commissions Prevention League, 1925) *Robert Maynard Leonard, ''The Pageant of English Prose: Being Five Hundred Passages by Three Hundred and Twenty-Five Authors'' (reprinted by Forgotten Books, 2018 )

Notes

External links

Leonard, Robert Maynard

Virtual International Authority File The Virtual International Authority File (VIAF) is an international authority file. It is a joint project of several national libraries and operated by the OCLC, Online Computer Library Center (OCLC). History Discussion about having a c ...

Leonard, R. M. (Robert Maynard)

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the OCL ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leonard, Robert Maynard 1869 births 1941 deaths Alumni of the University of Bristol English male journalists Journalists from London