Ernest William Radford (1857–1919) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

poet, critic and

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

. He was a follower 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 ...

, and one of the organisers in the Arts and Crafts Movement; he acted as secretary to the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society. He was also one of the

Rhymers' Club The Rhymers' Club was a group of London-based male poets, founded in 1890 by W. B. Yeats and Ernest Rhys. Originally not much more than a dining club, it produced anthologies of poetry in 1892 and 1894.''The Oxford Companion to English Literatu ...

group of poets of the 1890s, contributing to the two anthologies they produced. He married in 1883 Caroline Maitland (1858–1920), generally known as Dollie Radford, and also a poet and writer.

Early life

He was the son of George David Radford, a draper in Plymouth; the writer Ada Wallas, was his sister.Gillian Sutherland, ‘Wallas , Ada (1859–1934)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, April 201
accessed 26 Jan 2017
/ref> Another sister, Florence Amelia, was the mother of Arthur Ewart Popham. He was educated at Amersham Hall school, near

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, Southeast England, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers River Thames, Thames and River Kennet, Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 mot ...

. He matriculated at

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...

in 1874, graduating LL.B. in 1878 and LL.M. in 1885. He entered the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

in 1876, and was called to the bar in 1880.

Socialist connections

In the early 1880s, Radford associated with the circle of

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

and his family. He published poems in 1884 in the journal ''Progress'', edited by

Edward Aveling Edward Bibbins Aveling (29 November 1849 – 2 August 1898) was an English comparative anatomist and popular spokesman for Darwinian evolution, atheism and socialism. He was also a playwright and actor. Aveling was the author of numer ...

, with

Eleanor Marx Jenny Julia Eleanor Marx (16 January 1855 – 31 March 1898), sometimes called Eleanor Aveling and known to her family as Tussy, was the English-born youngest daughter of Karl Marx. She was herself a socialist activist who sometimes worked as a ...

and his future wife Caroline Maitland. In 1888 he had a position with the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, lasting to 1892. Radford became an aesthetic socialist, in the style of William Morris. The ''Encyclopedia of Social Reform'' (1897) in its article "Art and Social Reform" cites Mary Bacon Ford, who reported that Radford was called the "Young Tribune", among Morris's supporters, and was one of the lecturers at Toynbee Hall. Through debates at the Morrises Radford met

Walter Crane Walter Crane (15 August 184514 March 1915) was an English artist and book illustrator. He is considered to be the most influential, and among the most prolific, children's book creators of his generation and, along with Randolph Caldecott and Ka ...

, who provided an illustration of one of his books. Crane, who was president of the while Radford was secretary, described him as an extension lecturer. Radford and his wife both joined the Socialist League. Ernest Rhys, however, a good friend of Radford's, described him as a "casual disciple" of Morris, also a wit, effective speaker, and reviewer 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 in ...

''. The Radfords did move to Hammersmith, to be closer to the Morrises. Radford was a close friend of

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

from 1885 for a number of years; they were introduced by

William Archer William or Bill Archer may refer to: * William Archer (British politician) (1677–1739), British politician * William S. Archer (1789–1855), U.S. Senator and Representative from Virginia * William Beatty Archer (1793–1870), Illinois politician ...

. He became a

Fabian Society The Fabian Society is a British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in democracies, rather than by revolutionary overthrow. T ...

member. With Shaw he later spoke in favour of the Fabian Arts Group, in 1907. He also participated in the Men and Women's Club of the later 1880s.

Later life

As secretary convening the Rhymers' Club, Radford used his position in 1891 to invite the publisher

Elkin Mathews Charles Elkin Mathews (1851 – 10 November 1921) was a British publisher and bookseller who played an important role in the literary life of London in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Mathews was born in Gravesend, and learned his tr ...

. He later used Mathews to draw in

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 ...

as a literary ally. From 1892 Radford suffered from mental illness, after a breakdown in which he threatened to shoot an editor who had rejected his work. Later in life he required Dollie's care.

Works

*''From Heine'' (1882) translations *''Measured Steps'' (1884) *''The Poems of Walter Savage Landor'' (1889) *''Chambers Twain'' (1890) *''Old And New'' (1895) *''A Collection of Poems'' (1906) with others *''Dante Gabriel Rossetti'' (1908) biography *''Songs In The Whirlwind'' (1918) with Ada Radford

References

* * * *

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Radford, Ernest 1857 births 1919 deaths English socialists Arts and Crafts movement English male poets