Henry Hector Bolitho (28 May 1897 – 12 September 1974) was a New Zealand writer, novelist and biographer, who had 59 books published. Widely travelled, he spent most of his career in England.

Biography

Hector Bolitho was born and educated in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

, New Zealand, the son of Henry and Ethelred Frances Bolitho. He travelled in the South Sea Islands in 1919 and then through New Zealand with the Prince of Wales in 1920. Bolitho lived in Sydney from 1921 to 1923, where he became editor of the ''Shakespearean Quarterly'' and literary editor and drama critic of the '' Evening News'' in Sydney. He also travelled in Africa, Canada, America, and Germany in 1923-4, finally settling in Britain where he was to remain for the rest of his life. On his arrival in Britain he worked as a freelance journalist; in 1927 he also provided a glowing introduction to (former journalist of the ''Evening News'' and future crime writer) Max Murray's first book, a sea voyage called ''The World's Back Doors'' (Jonathan Cape, 1927), the sixty-first book in

Jonathan Cape Jonathan Cape is a London publishing firm founded in 1921 by Herbert Jonathan Cape, who was head of the firm until his death in 1960. Cape and his business partner Wren Howard set up the publishing house in 1921. They established a reputation ...

's Traveller's Library series. At the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

he joined the

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) was established in 1936 to support the preparedness of the U.K. Royal Air Force in the event of another war. The Air Ministry intended it to form a supplement to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF ...

(RAFVR) as an

intelligence officer An intelligence officer is a person employed by an organization to collect, compile or analyze information (known as intelligence) which is of use to that organization. The word of ''officer'' is a working title, not a rank, used in the same way ...

with the rank of

squadron leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is als ...

, editing the ''Royal Air Force Weekly Bulletin'', which in 1941 became the ''Royal Air Force Journal''. In 1942 he was appointed editor of the ''Coastal Command Intelligence Review''. Bolitho undertook several lecture tours of America (in 1938–39, 1947, 1948, and 1949) and he also revisited Australia in later years. In his forties, Bolitho shared his life and his home with John Simpson. Hector described John as his ‘secretary’, which was then a common euphemism for gay partner. Simpson later died and his long-term partner was Derek Peel, an army officer. They met in 1949 and were together until Bolitho's death in 1974. Bolitho is referenced in fictional form as "Hector Bolithiero" in the

Denton Welch Maurice Denton Welch (29 March 1915 – 30 December 1948) was a British writer and painter, admired for his vivid prose and precise descriptions. Life Welch was born in Shanghai, China, to Arthur Joseph Welch, a wealthy British rubber merchant, ...

short story "

Brave and Cruel ''Brave and Cruel and Other Stories'' is the third book by the English author and painter Denton Welch. A collection of short stories, it was the last publication he worked on. It was issued by Hamish Hamilton with a publication date of 1948, but ...

". The name Bolitho is of Cornish origin.

Bibliography

References

External links

Dictionary of National Biography

''Hector Bolitho'' at Dunedin Public Library website

World War I New Zealand Army military personnel file
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolitho, Hector 1897 births 1974 deaths British biographers British gay writers New Zealand people of Cornish descent New Zealand emigrants to the United Kingdom LGBT writers from New Zealand LGBT novelists British male novelists British monarchists 20th-century British novelists 20th-century British historians 20th-century British male writers Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Royal Air Force squadron leaders Male biographers 20th-century LGBT people