Francis Neilson (26 January 1867 – 13 April 1961) was an accomplished actor; playwright, stage director; political figure; member of the British House of Commons; avid lecturer; author of more than 60 books, plays and opera librettos and the most active leader in the Georgist movement.

Early life

Born Francis Butters, the eldest of nine siblings, in Claughton Road,

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

, England, he was the son of a

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

father, Francis Turley Butters and a Scottish mother from Dundee, Isabella Neilson Hume. He attended the

Liverpool Institute for Boys The Liverpool Institute High School for Boys was an all-boys grammar school in the English port city of Liverpool. The school had its origins in 1825 but occupied different premises while the money was found to build a dedicated building on ...

. Several accounts explain that because of his large family, Neilson left school at the age of fourteen and moved to the United States at the age of eighteen. Nevertheless, the British Census of 1881 records the Butters' household as having 12 people, including 8 children and two maids. The census also records Francis Butters (Neilson's father) as a restaurant keeper.

Move to US

In the United States, after arriving in New York City, and paying fifteen dollars for a

hansom cab The hansom cab is a kind of horse-drawn carriage designed and patented in 1834 by Joseph Hansom, an architect from York. The vehicle was developed and tested by Hansom in Hinckley, Leicestershire, England. Originally called the Hansom safety ca ...

ride from the docks to his guest house, Neilson worked several odd jobs which included a

longshoreman A stevedore (), also called a longshoreman, a docker or a dockworker, is a waterfront manual laborer who is involved in loading and unloading ships, trucks, trains or airplanes. After the shipping container revolution of the 1960s, the number o ...

, a labourer in

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...

(years later he lived at the

Savoy-Plaza Hotel The Savoy-Plaza Hotel was a 33-story hotel overlooking Central Park at Fifth Avenue and East 59th Street (Manhattan), 59th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It opened in 1927 and was demolished in 1965. History Original Savoy Hotel The ...

, overlooking that park), and some clerical work. After meeting an African-American man surnamed Johnson, who because of his colour worked as a porter despite of his college degree, Neilson became fascinated with education and at times "…went hungry to buy books". This fascination led him to

Henry George Henry George (September 2, 1839 – October 29, 1897) was an American political economist and journalist. His writing was immensely popular in 19th-century America and sparked several reform movements of the Progressive Era. He inspired the eco ...

, of whom he became a devoted follower. During his stay in the United States, he married Catherine O'Gorman; they had two daughters, Isabel and Marion. Isabel Neilson, an accomplished sculptor, married

Prince Hermann of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

in 1932 and became Princess Herman of Saxe-Weimar, and Marion Neilson married Captain Hugh Melville, Sam Browne's Cavalry.

Theatre and opera

Neilson's first success came in the following years after his discovery of

's teachings, where he became well known and respected for his writing, acting, and directing. The Internet Broadway Database, records him as a director of ''The Little Princess'' in January 1903, first at the

Criterion Theatre The Criterion Theatre is a West End theatre at Piccadilly Circus in the City of Westminster, and is a Grade II* listed building. It has a seating capacity of 588. Building the theatre In 1870, the caterers Spiers and Pond began developmen ...

and later at the Savoy Theatre; and as the playwright of ''A Butterfly on The Wheel'' in January 1912, at the 39th Street Theatre. In New York, he befriended director

Anton Seidl Anton Seidl (7 May 185028 March 1898) was a famous Hungarian Wagner conductor, best known for his association with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City and the New York Philharmonic. Biography He was born in Pest, Austria-Hungary, where ...

who took him to Germany and introduced him to Richard Wagner's family in Bayreuth. This led him out of the United States and back to London. He came back to London as a stage director for

Charles Frohman Charles Frohman (July 15, 1856 – May 7, 1915) was an American theater manager and producer, who discovered and promoted many stars of the American stage. Notably, he produced ''Peter Pan'', both in London and the US, the latter production ...

at the

Duke of York's Theatre The Duke of York's Theatre is a West End theatre in St Martin's Lane, in the City of Westminster, London. It was built for Frank Wyatt and his wife, Violet Melnotte, who retained ownership of the theatre until her death in 1935. Designed by th ...

. Later Neilson was invited to direct the national opera at Covent Garden, which he remodelled completely in 1900. The first opera to be produced there was

Puccini Giacomo Puccini ( Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long ...

's ''

Tosca ''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1887 French-language drama ...

''. Puccini himself was at the theatre supervising the production. The encounter of the two men triggered an interest that took Neilson to invite Puccini to see a private performance of the play ''

Madame Butterfly ''Madama Butterfly'' (; ''Madame Butterfly'') is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It is based on the short story " Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Lut ...

'', playing then at the Duke of York's Theatre.

later requested Neilson to direct the opera at La Scala in Milan; however, this never came to pass due to Neilson's other commitments.

Political career

In the early 1900s, he began his pursuit of politics. His first bid for a parliamentary seat was for the Newport Division of

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

; he lost to the Conservative incumbent, William Kenyon-Slaney, by a margin of 176 votes. He was also unsuccessful in the 1908 Newport by-election. He was elected as Member of Parliament for the constituency of Hyde in Cheshire in

1910 Events January * January 13 – The first public radio broadcast takes place; live performances of the operas '' Cavalleria rusticana'' and ''Pagliacci'' are sent out over the airwaves, from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York C ...

. During his time in parliament, he was well acquainted with both Prime Ministers: Asquith and Lloyd George. Interested in radical politics, he entered in the progress of the Land Values Movement. His multiple contributions to the liberal agenda made him frequent the Liberal Headquarters, at Parliament Street, and tour the country giving speeches in support of

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

candidates. He resigned from parliament in 1916 after his pacifist beliefs conflicted with the

First World War 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 ...

Return to US

He returned to the United States, where he became a citizen in 1921 and began pursuing his writing career. In the US, he met Helen Swift, an heiress of the Swift Meat Packing Business and the widow of Edward Morris, President of Morris & Company, another meat packing company. They were married in 1917. Together, they endowed many charities, and contributed to many institutions, including the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

, Ripon College,

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

in New York, the Archaeological Institute of America, the

Liverpool Cathedral Liverpool Cathedral is the Cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Liverpool, built on St James's Mount in Liverpool, and the seat of the Bishop of Liverpool. It may be referred to as the Cathedral Church of Christ in Liverpool (as recorded in th ...

, and

Boston Museum of Fine Arts The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...

Author

His antiwar book ''How Diplomats Make War'' (1915) went through several printings and translations. He went on to write over sixty books, along with many other forms of writing such as articles, plays, and an opera. Neilson co-edited a journal of opinion and literary criticism, titled '' The Freeman'' between 1920 and 1924.

Legacy

In 1935, as President of the Chicago Chapter of the Archaeological Institute of America and in co-ordination with the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

, he organised and endowed an archaeological expedition to the Near East, to research lands of biblical time. Archaeologist

John Garstang John Garstang (5 May 1876 – 12 September 1956) was a British archaeologist of the Ancient Near East, especially Egypt, Sudan, Anatolia and the southern Levant. He was the younger brother of Professor Walter Garstang, FRS, a marine bi ...

, at the age of sixty, was enthusiastically in charge of the excavations, with much success at the site of the port of Mersin in southern Turkey. On October 6, 1949, the Francis Neilson Trust Fund was founded "for the promotion and encouragement of education in the cultural arts and sciences among the choirboys and members of the Cross Guild under the age of twenty one and for the costs and expenses in the promotion of special services sanctioned by the Dean." A few years before his death, Neilson lost his sight. He was assisted in writing his last book, ''Ur to Nazareth'', by his literary secretary, K. Phyllis Evans. Neilson also wrote a two-volume autobiography, ''My Life in Two Worlds''. Neilson was a benefactor of the

, to which he donated antiquities and several paintings, including ''A Winter Carnival in a Small Flemish Town'', ''Portrait of a Man, Possibly George Frederick Handel'', and ''The Pelkus Gate near Utrecht''. Neilson's late wife, Helen Swift Neilson, had bequeathed ''Portrait of a Young Woman with a Fan'', by Rembrandt, for which she had paid $250,000 in 1930; ''Rembrandt Harmensz'' (Dutch, 1606–1669); the ''Portrait of Mrs. Thomas Pechell'', and ''1799''. The

was given John Singer Sargent's painting ''A Capriote''.

also received support from Neilson in the form of a collection of Organ and Choral Works which he sponsored; the organ at the Cathedral also bears his name. The Francis Neilson Trust supports music and choristers at the cathedral.

Death

Francis Neilson died, aged 94, on 13 April 1961 in Port Washington, Long Island, New York. He was cremated and his remains interred at Liverpool Cathedral.

Publications

*''How Diplomats Make War

1915 *''Duty to Civilization'', 1921 *''The Eleventh Commandment'', 1933 *''Man at the Crossroads'', 1938 *''The Tragedy of Europe'' (5 vols.), 1940–1945 *''In Quest of Justice'', 1944 *''Makers of War'', 1950 *''My Life in Two Worlds'', 1952 *''The Churchill Legend'', 1954 *''From Ur to Nazareth'', 1960 *''Control from the Top'', 1933. *''Sociocratic Escapades'', 1934. *''Modern Man and the Liberal Arts'', 1947

Opera librettos and plays

*''La Vivandiere'' (1893; with music by

Victor Herbert Victor August Herbert (February 1, 1859 – May 26, 1924) was an American composer, cellist and conductor of English and Irish ancestry and German training. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and conductor, he is bes ...

) *''

Prince Ananias ''Prince Ananias'' was the first operetta composed by Victor Herbert. The libretto is by Francis Neilson. It was first produced by a troupe called "The Bostonians" at The Broadway Theatre on November 20, 1894, directed by Jerome Sykes. It rema ...

'' (1894, with music by

) *'' Manabozo'' (1899; composed for

) *''The Bath Road'' (1902) – a romantic comedy in three acts *''The Crucible'' (1911) – a drama in three acts *''A Butterfly on The Wheel'' (1911) – a drama in four acts *''The Sin-Eaters Hallowe'en'' (1924) -, a fantasy play in one act and two scenes *''A Mixed Foursome'' (1924) – a comedy in three acts *''The Impossible Philanthropist'' (1924) – a comedy in four acts *''The Day Before Commencement'' (1925) – a comedy in four acts *''The Queen Nectaria'' (1927) – a fantasy in four acts *''Le Braiser De Sang'' (1929) – a drama in two acts; produced in Paris

Novels

*''Madame Bohemia'', 1900 *''The Wise'', 1903 *''Ralph Voyce'', 1913 *''A Strong Man's House'', 1916 *''The House of the Big Yard'', 1936

References

Mrs. Morris marries British Statesman Francis Neilson
*Neilson, Francis. My Life in Two Worlds: Volume I 1867–1915. Appleston: C.C. Nelson Publishing Co., 1952.
The Churchill Legend"The Making of a Tyrant"
An Anti-War essay by Neilson.
Francis Neilson, Lectures at the University of IowaFrancis Neilson, Library of Congress
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071027003046/http://www.mfa.org/collections/search_art.asp?recview=true&id=32955&coll_keywords=Helen+Swift&coll_accession=&coll_name=&coll_artist=&coll_place=&coll_medium=&coll_culture=&coll_classification=&coll_credit=&coll_provenance=&coll_location=&coll_has_images=&coll_on_view=&coll_sort=0&coll_sort_order=0&coll_view=0&coll_package=0&coll_start=1 Boston Museum of Fine Arts Bequest of Helen Swift Neilson, 1946]

External links

*
Francis Neilson Papers
at the

University of Manchester Library The University of Manchester Library is the library system and information service of the University of Manchester. The main library is on the Oxford Road campus of the university, with its entrance on Burlington Street. There are also ten other ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Neilson, Francis 1867 births 1961 deaths English emigrants to the United States English male dramatists and playwrights English male non-fiction writers English pacifists English political writers Georgist politicians Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Morris family (meatpacking) People educated at Liverpool Institute High School for Boys People from Birkenhead People from Long Island People from Newport, Shropshire UK MPs 1910–1918