Memorial to John Meade Falkner in Durham Cathedral

John Meade Falkner (8 May 1858 – 22 July 1932) was an English

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire ...

and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or w ...

, best known for his 1898 novel '' Moonfleet''. An extremely successful businessman, he became chairman of the arms manufacturer

Armstrong Whitworth Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. With headquarters in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth built armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles and ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

Life and works

Falkner was born in

Manningford Bruce Manningford is a civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The parish includes the villages of Manningford Abbots, Manningford Bohune and Manningford Bruce, and the hamlet of Manningford Bohune Common, together known as the Manningfords. The parish ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, and spent much of his childhood in Dorchester and Weymouth. He was educated at

Marlborough College ( 1 Corinthians 3:6: God gives the increase) , established = , type = Public SchoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = Church of England , president = Nicholas Holtam , head_label = Master , head = Louis ...

and

Hertford College, Oxford Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main gate to the Bodleian Library. The col ...

, graduating with a third-class degree in history in 1882. After Oxford, he was a master at

Derby School Derby School was a school in Derby in the English Midlands from 1160 to 1989. It had an almost continuous history of education of over eight centuries. For most of that time it was a grammar school for boys. The school became co-educational a ...

, then went to

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

as tutor to the family of Sir Andrew Noble, who ran Armstrong Whitworth Co., one of the largest arms manufacturers in the world. Falkner eventually followed him as chairman in 1915. In his business travels round the world, Falkner brought back antiquarian treasures of all kinds. After his retirement as chairman in 1921 he became Honorary Reader in

paleography Palaeography ( UK) or paleography ( US; ultimately from grc-gre, , ''palaiós'', "old", and , ''gráphein'', "to write") is the study of historic writing systems and the deciphering and dating of historical manuscripts, including the analysi ...

at the

University of Durham , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills ( Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_cha ...

, as well as Honorary Librarian to the Dean and Chapter Library of

Durham Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham, commonly known as Durham Cathedral and home of the Shrine of St Cuthbert, is a cathedral in the city of Durham, County Durham, England. It is the seat of t ...

. Falkner fell in love with Durham and, although he spent his later years travelling frequently, he called Durham his home, living in the Divinity House (now the University Music School) on Palace Green in front of the cathedral from 1902 until his death. There is a commemorative plaque there, while his monument is in the south cloister of the cathedral. He is buried at St John the Baptist Church in Burford, Oxfordshire. In addition to his three novels and his poetry, he also wrote three topographical guides (

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primaril ...

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Pl ...

and

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Ber ...

) and a ''History of Oxfordshire''.

Bibliography

Fiction

* '' The Lost Stradivarius'' (1895) * '' Moonfleet'' (1898) * '' The Nebuly Coat'' (1903)

Non-fiction

* ''Handbook for Travellers in Oxfordshire'' (1894) * ''A History of Oxfordshire'' (1899) * ''Handbook for Berkshire'' (1902) * ''Bath in History and Social Tradition'' (1918) by an appreciative visitor'* ''A History of Durham Cathedral Library, with an Additional Chapter on some Late Durham Bibliophiles'' (1925) uthored with H.D. Hughes

References

John Meade Falkner, sportsman, at rjbw.net

External links

* * * *
The John Meade Falkner Society
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Falkner, John Meade 1858 births 1932 deaths People from Wiltshire 19th-century English novelists English children's writers People educated at Marlborough College Alumni of Hertford College, Oxford People educated at Derby School Academics of Durham University English male novelists 19th-century English male writers