Douglas Goldring (7 January 1887 – 9 April 1960) was an English writer and journalist.Glenn Hooper,''The Tourist's Gaze : travellers to Ireland, 1800–2000''.

Cork University Press Cork University Press (CUP) is a publisher located in Cork, Ireland. It was founded in 1925 and is associated with University College Cork. The Press publishes under its own imprint and two others: Attic (which specializes in women's studies) an ...

, Cork, Ireland, 2001. (pp. 171–5). Stanley J. Kunitz and Howard Haycraft, (editors) ''Twentieth Century authors, A Biographical Dictionary of Modern Literature'', (Third Edition). New York, The H.W. Wilson Company, 1950 (pp. 549–50)

Early life

Goldring was born in

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

, England. He was educated initially at

Hurstpierpoint Hurstpierpoint is a village in West Sussex, England, southwest of Burgess Hill, and west of Hassocks railway station. It sits in the civil parish of Hurstpierpoint and Sayers Common which has an area of 2029.88 ha and a population ...

, Magdalen College School and for his secondary education Felsted. He went on to

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in 1906; having inherited a legacy he left Oxford without a degree, and moved to London to write. He first took an editorial position at '' Country Life'' magazine. In 1908 he also became a sub-editor for '' English Review'' edited by

Ford Madox Ford Ford Madox Ford (né Joseph Leopold Ford Hermann Madox Hueffer ( ); 17 December 1873 – 26 June 1939) was an English novelist, poet, critic and editor whose journals '' The English Review'' and ''The Transatlantic Review'' were instrumental in ...

(at that time still named Hueffer). Goldring edited his own literary magazine, ''The Tramp'', in 1910, publishing early work by

Wyndham Lewis Percy Wyndham Lewis (18 November 1882 – 7 March 1957) was a British writer, painter and critic. He was a co-founder of the Vorticist movement in art and edited ''BLAST,'' the literary magazine of the Vorticists. His novels include ''Tarr'' ( ...

, and the

Futurist Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities abo ...

Marinetti Filippo Tommaso Emilio Marinetti (; 22 December 1876 – 2 December 1944) was an Italian poet, editor, art theorist, and founder of the Futurist movement. He was associated with the utopian and Symbolist artistic and literary community Abbaye ...

. From 1912 Goldring was associated with Max Goschen, a troubled London publisher. He there produced Ford's ''Collected Poems'' (1913), principally as a financial arrangement. In 1913 he was in close contact with Wyndham Lewis and the

Vorticist Vorticism was a London-based Modernism, modernist art movement formed in 1914 by the writer and artist Wyndham Lewis. The movement was partially inspired by Cubism and was introduced to the public by means of the publication of the Vorticist mani ...

group, helping to achieve publication of the literary magazine ''

BLAST Blast or The Blast may refer to: *Explosion, a rapid increase in volume and release of energy in an extreme manner *Detonation, an exothermic front accelerating through a medium that eventually drives a shock front Film * ''Blast'' (1997 film), ...

'' printed.

World War I

Goldring volunteered for the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

in 1914, at the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, but was discharged for medical reasons. Subsequently, he took a more critical attitude towards the war, from a socialist position. He joined the ''

1917 Club __NOTOC__ The 1917 Club was a club for socialists that met in 4 Gerrard Street, Soho, in Central London, during the early part of the 20th century. It had been founded in December 1917 by Leonard Woolf and Oliver Strachey. Although its name mark ...

'', the mixed gender Bohemian radical equivalent of a "gentlemen's club", at 4 Gerrard Street, Soho; the name celebrated the

Bolshevik revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

in Russia.James T. Boulton and Andrew Robertson,''The Letters of D. H. Lawrence:Volume 3: October 1916 – June 1921''. Cambridge (GB) :

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pre ...

, 2002. (pp. 5–8). He moved to

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, Ireland, and married there his first wife, Betty Duncan; they had two children (the elder, Hugh, was killed as a soldier in World War II). While in Dublin, Goldring witnessed the funeral of the Irish Republican activist

Thomas Ashe Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

, which he later wrote about in his book ''A Stranger in Ireland''. Goldring was a member of the

National Council for Civil Liberties Liberty, formerly, and still formally, called the National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL), is an advocacy group and membership organisation based in the United Kingdom, which challenges unjust laws, protects civil liberties and promotes hu ...

. Patrick Wright, ''On Living in an Old Country:The National Past in Contemporary Britain'',

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 ...

, 2009 (p. xxii)

Later life

In 1919 Goldring visited Germany for ''Clarté'',

Henri Barbusse Henri Barbusse (; 17 May 1873 – 30 August 1935) was a French novelist and a member of the French Communist Party. He was a lifelong friend of Albert Einstein. Life The son of a French father and an English mother, Barbusse was born in Asnièr ...

's organisation. On returning to London, he intended in 1919 to establish a People's Theatre Society and publish a series of dramas, including one, by

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 ...

(''Touch and Go''),but in the end only getting his own ''Fight for Freedom'' into print. Lawrence was initially angered by this, but their friendship was soon restored. Goldring dedicated his 1920 novel ''The Black Curtain'' to Lawrence, and wrote an appreciation of Lawrence's work in his 1920 book ''Reputations''. Goldring became more involved in the 1917 Club, meeting there not only the President of the Club, Ramsay MacDonald, but also

Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. He wrote nearly 50 books, both novels and non-fiction works, as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the prominent Huxle ...

, C. E. M. Joad, and

E. D. Morel Edmund Dene Morel (born Georges Edmond Pierre Achille Morel Deville; 10 July 1873 – 12 November 1924) was a French-born British journalist, author, pacifist and politician. As a young official at the shipping company Elder Dempster, Morel ob ...

, until it petered out in the 1930s. Morel became a strong influence on Goldring's political thought. He witnessed the destruction in 1924 of the John Nash facades on Regent Street, leading to his later interest in the preservation of

Georgian period The Georgian era was a period in British history from 1714 to , named after the Hanoverian Kings George I, George II, George III and George IV. The definition of the Georgian era is often extended to include the relatively short reign of Will ...

architecture. He spent much of the 1920s on the French Riviera or in Paris. He taught in Gothenburg, Sweden from 1925 to 1927. He became known mostly as a travel writer. In the late 1930s Goldring came to prominence in two ways. He was Secretary of the Georgian Society, which he helped to found after writing in ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' in 1936, with Lord Derwent and

Robert Byron Robert Byron (26 February 1905 – 24 February 1941) was a British travel writer, best known for his travelogue ''The Road to Oxiana''. He was also a noted writer, art critic and historian. Biography He was the son of Eric Byron, a civil engi ...

. Inspired by the ideas of

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

, Goldring helped transform it in 1937 into the

Georgian Group The Georgian Group is a British charity, and the national authority on Georgian architecture built between 1700 and 1837 in England and Wales. As one of the National Amenity Societies, The Georgian Group is a statutory consultee on alterat ...

, a section within the

Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) (also known as Anti-Scrape) is an amenity society founded by William Morris, Philip Webb, and others in 1877 to oppose the destructive 'restoration' of ancient buildings occurring in ...

, on the advice of

Lord Esher Viscount Esher, of Esher in the County of Surrey, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 11 November 1897 for the prominent lawyer and judge William Brett, 1st Baron Esher, upon his retirement as Master of the Rolls ...

. Goldring soon became unhappy with the Georgian Group's political conservatism and left it. He was also noted, at the same period, as a radical journalist and prolific contributor to left-wing publications. Goldring described his political views as socialist. In his last years, Goldring contributed reviews to the

Socialist Labour League The Workers Revolutionary Party is a Trotskyist group in Britain once led by Gerry Healy. In the mid-1980s, it split into several smaller groups, one of which retains possession of the name. The Club The WRP grew out of the faction Gerry Healy ...

magazine ''Labour Review''.Terry Brotherstone, Geoffrey Pilling, ''History, Economic History and the future of Marxism''. Porcupine, 1996. (p.360).

Legacy

Douglas Goldring's archive is now in the special collections of the

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary insti ...

, Canada.

Works

*''A Country Boy and other poems'' (1910) *''Ways of Escape. A Book of Adventure'' (1911) *''Streets: a book of London verses'' (Max Goschen, 1912) *
The Permanent Uncle
' (1912) novel *''Dream Cities. Notes of an autumn tour in Italy and Dalmatia'' (1913) travel *''Along France's River of Romance: The Loire'' (1913) travel *''It's an Ill Wind'' (1915) novel *''In the Town. A Book of London Verses'' (1916) *''The Fortune'' (1917) novel including the experience of a fictional conscientious objector *''Dublin: Explorations and Reflections'' (1917) as "An Englishman" *''Polly'' (1917) *''A Stranger in Ireland'' (1918) as "An Englishman"
''The Black Curtain''
novel
''Reputations''
(1920) essays *'' The Solvent'' (1920) *''Briefe aus der Verbannung'' (1920) *''The Fight for Freedom, a play in four acts'', with a preface by Henry Barbusse (1920) *''James Elroy Flecker'' (1922) *''Nobody Knows'' (1923) novel *''Miss Linn'' (1924) novel *''Gone Abroad – A story of travel chiefly in Italy and The Balearic Isles'' (1925) travel * ''Cuckoo'' (1926) novel *''The Merchant of Souls'' (1926) novel *''Northern Lights and Southern Shade'' (1926) travel * ''Façade'' (1928) novel *''The French Riviera'' (1928) *''People and Places'' (1929) *''Sardinia: the island of the Nuraghi'' (1930) travel *''Impacts: The Trip to the States and Other Adventures of Travel'' (1931) *''Liberty & Licensing. Hobby Horse Number One'' (1932) pamphlet *''To Portugal'' (1934) *''Royal London'' (1935) * ''Odd Man Out'' (1935) autobiography *''Pot Luck in England'' (1936) *''Facing the Odds'' (1940) *''Artist Quarter: reminiscences of Montmartre and Montparnasse in the first two decades of the twentieth century'' (1941) by Charles Douglas (Douglas Goldring with

Charles Beadle Charles Beadle (October 27, 1881 – 1944?) was a novelist and pulp fiction writer, best known for his adventure stories in American pulp magazines, and for his novels of the bohemian life in Paris. He was born at sea. His father, Henry Beadl ...

) *S''outh Lodge: reminiscences of Violet Hunt, Ford Madox Ford and the English Review circle'' (1943) memoirs *''A Tour in Northumbria'' (1944) *''The Nineteen Twenties'' (1945) retrospect and memoir *''Journeys in the Sun'' (1946) *''Marching with the Times: 1931–1946'' (1947) memoirs *''The Last Pre-Raphaelite: a record of the life and writings of Ford Madox Ford'' (1948) *''Life Interests'' (1948) *''Home Ground—A Journey Through the Heart of England'' (1949) *''Foreign Parts: an Autumn Tour in France'' (1950) *''Regency Portrait Painter: the Life of Sir Thomas Lawrence, P. R. A.'' (1951) *''Three Romantic Countries: Reminiscences of travel in Dalmatia, Ireland and Portugal'' (1951) *''The South of France. The Lower Rhone Valley and the Mediterranean Seaboard from Martigues to Menton'' (1952) *''Privileged Persons'' (1955)

References

Alec Waugh Alexander Raban Waugh (8 July 1898 – 3 September 1981) was a British novelist, the elder brother of the better-known Evelyn Waugh, uncle of Auberon Waugh and son of Arthur Waugh, author, literary critic, and publisher. His first wife was Bar ...

, ''The Early Years'' (1962)

External links

Douglas Goldring fonds
an
finding aid
at University of Victoria, Special Collections {{DEFAULTSORT:Goldring, Douglas 1887 births 1960 deaths People educated at Hurstpierpoint College People educated at Magdalen College School, Oxford People educated at Felsted School English travel writers English male novelists 20th-century British novelists English socialists 20th-century English male writers English male non-fiction writers