Viola Meynell, Mrs. Dallyn (15 October 1885, in

Barnes, London Barnes () is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England. It takes up the extreme north-east of the borough, and as such is the closest part of the borough to central London. It is centred west sou ...

– 27 October 1956) was an English writer, novelist and poet. She wrote around 20 books, but was best known for her short stories and novels.

Biography

Her parents were

Wilfrid Meynell Wilfrid Meynell (17 November 1852, Newcastle-upon-Tyne – 20 October 1948, Pulborough),Obituary, ''The Times'', 22 October 1948, p.7. who sometimes wrote under the pseudonym John Oldcastle, was a British newspaper publisher and editor. Born of ...

and Alice Thompson Meynell, noted Roman Catholic publishers and writers. Her father was a publisher and her mother was the sister of the well-known artist Lady Butler, (''Charge of the Greys''). Her parents had a chaotic and busy literary household in Palace Court, Nottinghill Gate,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. There was a constant stream of visitors such as Eric Gill,

Robert Browning Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical settings ...

, Stevenson,

Henley Henley may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Henley, Dorset, a location * Henley, Gloucestershire, a location * Henley-on-Thames, a town in South Oxfordshire, England ** Henley (UK Parliament constituency) ** Henley Rural District, a former ru ...

Coventry Patmore Coventry Kersey Dighton Patmore (23 July 1823 – 26 November 1896) was an English poet and literary critic. He is best known for his book of poetry ''The Angel in the House'', a narrative poem about the Victorian ideal of a happy marriage. A ...

George Meredith George Meredith (12 February 1828 – 18 May 1909) was an English novelist and poet of the Victorian era. At first his focus was poetry, influenced by John Keats among others, but he gradually established a reputation as a novelist. ''The Ord ...

Francis Thompson Francis Joseph Thompson (16 December 1859 – 13 November 1907) was an English poet and Catholic mystic. At the behest of his father, a doctor, he entered medical school at the age of 18, but at 26 left home to pursue his talent as a writer a ...

Stephen Phillips Stephen Phillips (28 July 1864 – 9 December 1915) was an English poet and dramatist, who enjoyed considerable popularity early in his career. Biography He was born at Somertown near Oxford, the son of the Rev. Stephen Phillips, precentor o ...

W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...

G. K. Chesterton Gilbert Keith Chesterton (29 May 1874 – 14 June 1936) was an English writer, philosopher, Christian apologist, and literary and art critic. He has been referred to as the "prince of paradox". Of his writing style, ''Time'' observed: "Wh ...

Shane Leslie Sir John Randolph Leslie, 3rd Baronet (Irish: ''Sir Seaghán Leslaigh''; 24 September 1885 – 14 August 1971), commonly known as Sir Shane Leslie, was an Irish-born diplomat and writer. He was a first cousin of Sir Winston Churchill. In 1908 ...

Sir Ronald Storrs Sir Ronald Henry Amherst Storrs (19 November 1881 – 1 November 1955) was an official in the British Foreign and Colonial Office. He served as Oriental Secretary in Cairo, Military Governor of Jerusalem, Governor of Cyprus, and Governor of No ...

and others more or less renowned. Viola had seven siblings. Her brother

Francis Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places * Rural M ...

was the driving force of ''

The Nonesuch Press Nonesuch Press was a private press founded in 1922 in London by Francis Meynell, his second wife Vera Mendel, and their mutual friend David Garnett,Miranda Knorr"The Nonesuch Press: A Product of Determination" An Exhibit of Rare Books at the Ok ...

'', with whom in the pre-war days she made homemade books on the kitchen table, dyeing with onion skins and typing her verse to be stitched by hand into the pages. They had a second home in the country at

Greatham Greatham may refer to: *Greatham, County Durham *Greatham, Hampshire Greatham ( ) is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north of Liss, just off the A3 road. The nearest railway station is ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

where Viola married local farmer, John Dallyn, and had her only child, a son, John Jacob ("Jake") Dallyn (b. 1922). She was an early supporter of

D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...

, offering practical help in the way of typing his manuscripts and accommodation, by way of a room in her home at Greatham. She was also a champion of

Herman Melville Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American people, American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his bes ...

at a time when he was unfashionable. In 1920 she engineered the publishing of ''

Moby Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship ''Pequod'', for revenge against Moby Dick, the giant whit ...

'' as the first American novel in the

Oxford World's Classics Oxford World's Classics is an imprint of Oxford University Press. First established in 1901 by Grant Richards and purchased by OUP in 1906, this imprint publishes primarily dramatic and classic literature for students and the general public. I ...

series in England and wrote the introduction to that volume. During Lawrence's stay at Greatham he wrote ''England My England'', a thinly disguised and unpleasant jab at her family. Greatham became its own centre with visitors as varied as

Eric Gill Arthur Eric Rowton Gill, (22 February 1882 – 17 November 1940) was an English sculptor, letter cutter, typeface designer, and printmaker. Although the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' describes Gill as ″the greatest artist-cra ...

Hilaire Belloc Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc (, ; 27 July 187016 July 1953) was a Franco-English writer and historian of the early twentieth century. Belloc was also an orator, poet, sailor, satirist, writer of letters, soldier, and political activist. H ...

, and

Cynthia Asquith Lady Cynthia Mary Evelyn Asquith (née Charteris; 27 September 1887 – 31 March 1960) was an English writer and socialite, known for her ghost stories and diaries.Richard Dalby, ''The Virago Book of Ghost Stories''.Virago, London, , 1987 (p. 23 ...

. Her books sold well, many of them being republished both in England and in America. She had a large circle of literary friends and correspondents, including

Katherine Mansfield Kathleen Mansfield Murry (née Beauchamp; 14 October 1888 – 9 January 1923) was a New Zealand writer, essayist and journalist, widely considered one of the most influential and important authors of the modernist movement. Her works are celebra ...

Compton Mackenzie Sir Edward Montague Compton Mackenzie, (17 January 1883 – 30 November 1972) was a Scottish writer of fiction, biography, histories and a memoir, as well as a cultural commentator, raconteur and lifelong Scottish independence, Scottish nation ...

and

T. H. White Terence Hanbury "Tim" White (29 May 1906 – 17 January 1964) was an English writer best known for his Arthurian novels, published together in 1958 as ''The Once and Future King''. One of his most memorable is the first of the series, '' The Sw ...

. She died on 27 October 1956, and was interred in Houghton Catholic Church cemetery, near Greatham.

Works

*''Martha Vine'' (1910) – published anonymously *''Cross in Hand Farm'' (1911) *''Lot Barrow'' (1913) *''Modern Lovers'' (1914) *''Columbine'' (1915) *''Narcissus'' (1916) *''Julian Grenfell'' (1917) *''Second Marriage'' (1918) *''Verses'' (1919) *''Antonia'' (1921) *''Young Mrs. Cruse'' (1924) *''A Girl Adoring'' (1927) *''Alice Meynell'' (1929) *''The Frozen Ocean'' (1930) Poetry. *''Follow Thy Fair Sun'' (1935) *''Kissing The Rod'' (1937) *''Friends of a Lifetime: Letters to

Sydney Carlyle Cockerell Sydney Carlyle Cockerell (16 July 1867 – 1 May 1962) was an England, English museum curator and collector. From 1908 to 1937, he was director of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England. Biography Sydney Cockerell made his way initially ...

'' (1940) editor *''An Anthology of Nature Poetry'' (1942) *''Letters of J. M. Barrie'' (1943; editor) *''Lovers'' (1944) *''First Love and Other Stories'' (1947) *''Ophelia'' (1951) *''Francis Thompson and Wilfrid Meynell'' (1952) *''Louise and Other Stories'' (1954) *''The Best of Friends: Further Letters to

'' (1956) editor *''Collected Stories'' (1957)

Other works

*''Eyes of Youth'' (1910) – a collection of poems by friends and family *''George Eliot'' (1913) *''Introduction to Romola: George Eliot'' (1913) *''Introduction to Felix Holt: The Radical'' (1913) *''Introduction to Moby Dick: Herman Melville'' (1925)

References

Sources

*''A Critical Biography of English Novelist, Viola Meynell, 1885-1956'' (2002) by Raymond N. MacKenzie

External links

Viola Meynell letters
at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meynell, Viola 1885 births 1956 deaths English Roman Catholics English short story writers Place of birth missing People from Horsham District 20th-century English novelists 20th-century British short story writers People from Barnes, London Writers from London British women short story writers English women novelists