Sam Hield Hamer (27 July 1869 – 6 February 1941) was an English writer and editor, mostly for children, but was also well-regarded as a

travel writer The genre of travel literature encompasses outdoor literature, guide books, nature writing, and travel memoirs. One early travel memoirist in Western literature was Pausanias, a Greek geographer of the 2nd century CE. In the early modern period ...

. Born in

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

, a son of John Hamer, a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

, and Sarah Sharp Hamer (née Heaton), a writer, the young Sam was educated at the

City of London School , established = , closed = , type = Public school Boys' independent day school , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Alan Bird , chair_label = Chair of Governors , chair = Ian Seaton , founder = John Carpenter , speciali ...

. In 1886, at the time of the real general election in July, the school conducted a mock election, and the boys voted for a Liberal government to be led by Hamer. He left school that year to take up a position with the publishers

Cassell and Company Cassell & Co is a British publishing, book publishing house, founded in 1848 by John Cassell (1817–1865), which became in the 1890s an international publishing group company. In 1995, Cassell & Co acquired Pinter Publishers. In December 1998, ...

, where he rose to join the editorial staff and stayed with the firm until 1907, serving as editor of ''Little Folks'' from 1895 to 1907. He was a member of the

National Liberal Club The National Liberal Club (NLC) is a London private members' club, open to both men and women. It was established by William Ewart Gladstone in 1882 to provide club facilities for Liberal Party campaigners among the newly enlarged electorate f ...

. He is credited with "discovering" Arthur Rackham as an illustrator. Former City of London School, Victoria Embankment, London

He also wrote under the name of Sam Browne. Between 1897 and 1906 Hamer had a productive collaboration with the illustrator Harry B. Neilson. Hamer's book ''The Dolomites'' (1910), also known as ''Wayfaring in the Dolomites'', is about the mountain-climbing adventures of a family called Innerkofler. Hamer was committed to saving British landscape and heritage sites, and was secretary of the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

for 23 years, from 1911 – 1934. He was responsible for raising the money needed (£35,000) for the Trust to buy the land surrounding

Stonehenge Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connectin ...

. It was reported that, during the time that he was secretary, the number of National Trust properties increased from 40 to 250. In 1913, a reviewer of his ''The Bran Pie'' commented that Hamer "probably understands the taste of children in literature as well as anyone now living."''The Bookman'', vol. 43 (1913), p. 201: "THE BRAN PIE, Edited by S. H. Hamer... Mr. S. H. Hamer probably understands the taste of children in literature as well as anyone now living." He corresponded with

Beatrix Potter Helen Beatrix Potter (, 28 July 186622 December 1943) was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist. She is best known for her children's books featuring animals, such as ''The Tale of Peter Rabbit'', which was he ...

in the 1920s. Hamer, then of 69 Dartmouth Park Hill,

Tufnell Park Tufnell Park is an area in north London, England, in the London boroughs of Islington and Camden. The neighborhood is served by Tufnell Park tube station on the Northern Line. History Origins and boundary ;Medieval and later manor Tufnell ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

, died at the neighbouring number 55 Dartmouth Park Hill on 6 February 1941, leaving effects valued at £109. Probate was to

Frances Mary Hamer Frances Mary Hamer (1894–1980) was a British chemist who specialized in the sensitization compounds used for photographic processing for which she held many patents. She was very active in the Allied efforts to enhance aerial photography during ...

, spinster."HAMER Sam Hield" in Probate Index for 1941.

Selected publications

*S. H. Hamer, ''Micky Magee's Menagerie, or, Strange animals and their doings'', illustrated by Harry B. Neilson (Cassell & Company, London, Paris, New York & Melbourne, 1897) *S. H. Hamer, ''Whys and Other Whys, or, Curious Creatures and Their Tales'', illustrated by Harry B. Neilson (London: Cassell, 1898) *S. H. Hamer, Harry B. Neilson, ''Topsy-Turvy Tales, or The Exception Proves the Rule'' (London: Cassell, 1901) *S. H. Hamer, ''The Jungle School; or Dr. Jibber-Jabber Burchall's Academy, With Illustrations by H. B. Neilson'' (London: Cassell, 1900) *S. H. Hamer, ''Peter Piper's Feepshow'', with Illustrations by H. B. Neilson and

Lewis Baumer Lewis Christopher Edward Baumer (8 August 1870 – 25 October 1963) was best known as an English cartoonist who worked for more than fifty years for the British magazine ''Punch'', from 1897. He was also a portrait and still life painter, pastell ...

(London: Cassell & Company, 1900) *S. H. Hamer, ''The Ten Travellers, and other tales in prose and verse'', illustrated by H. B. Neilson (Cassell & Company, London, Paris, New York & Melbourne, 1902) *S. H. Hamer,

Harry Rountree Harry Rountree (26 January 1878''1939 England and Wales Register'' – 26 September 1950) was a prolific illustrator working in England around the turn of the 20th century. Born in Auckland, New Zealand, he moved to London in 1901, when he was 23 ...

, ''Archibald's Amazing Adventure, Or, The Tip-top Tale'' (London: Cassell and Company, Limited, 1905) *S. H. Hamer, ''Topsy Turvy Tales'', with Illustrations by Harry B. Neilson (1906) *S. H. Hamer, ''The Forst Foundling'' (London: Duckworth and Company, 1909) *Sam Hield Hamer, ''The Dolomites'' (London: Methuen, 1910) *S. H. Hamer, ''The Bran Pie'' (Duckworth, 1913) *S. H. Hamer, ''Escuela de Animales, illustrado por Harry B. Neilson'' (Barcelona: Ramon Sopena, 1942)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamer, Sam Hield 1869 births 1941 deaths 20th-century English non-fiction writers English children's writers People educated at the City of London School English travel writers