Sir Francis Meredith Wilfrid Meynell (12 May 1891 – 10 July 1975) was a British

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 writte ...

and

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person or a company * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * James ...

The Nonesuch Press Nonesuch Press was a private press founded in 1922 in London by Francis Meynell, his second wife Vera Mendel, and their mutual friend David Garnett,Miranda Knorr"The Nonesuch Press: A Product of Determination" An Exhibit of Rare Books at the Ok ...

Early career

He was the son of the journalist and publisher

Wilfrid Meynell Wilfrid Meynell (17 November 1852, Newcastle-upon-Tyne – 20 October 1948, Pulborough),Obituary, ''The Times'', 22 October 1948, p.7. who sometimes wrote under the pseudonym John Oldcastle, was a British newspaper publisher and editor. Born of ...

and the poet Alice Meynell, a

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

and prominent

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

convert. After leaving

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

, he joined his father at the publisher

Burns & Oates Burns & Oates was a British Roman Catholic publishing house which most recently existed as an imprint of Continuum. Company history It was founded by James Burns in 1835, originally as a bookseller. Burns was of Presbyterian background and he g ...

. In 1913 he was brought in by

George Lansbury George Lansbury (22 February 1859 – 7 May 1940) was a British politician and social reformer who led the Labour Party from 1932 to 1935. Apart from a brief period of ministerial office during the Labour government of 1929–31, he spent ...

to be business manager of the '' ''Daily Herald''''. In 1912 he came to the notice of wealthy American,

Mary Melissa Hoadley Dodge Mary Melissa Hoadley Dodge (August 21, 1861 – December 24, 1934) was an American heiress who moved to England and sponsored many causes during her life, including women's suffrage, theosophy and the arts. Move to London She was the daughter of S ...

, who was domiciled in England. She knew Meynell's parents and had seen him speak in defence of activists of the

suffragette movement A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for women's suffrage, the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in part ...

in Queen's Hall. With her companion, Countess Muriel De La Warr, she provided support and funding for him in 1916 to start the ''Pelican Press'' and also helped with funding for the ''Daily Herald''. In 1921 Meynell was editor of the weekly paper ''The Communist'' and became involved with a libel action that he lost. The award against him was £2000, and not being able to pay he filed for bankruptcy. Dodge and De La Warr came to his rescue but requested that their donation remain anonymous. Dodge became a godparent to Meynell's first child, Cynthia, in 1915.

Conscientious objector

Meynell became liable for call-up for

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require a ...

in 1916, and applied for exemption on the ground of being a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

. He appeared before a local tribunal in Marylebone in August 1916 and a county appeal tribunal in September. He was granted exemption from combatant service only, and surrendered himself to the civil police on 29 January 1917. Handed over by Westminster magistrates to the military authorities, he was held in the guard room at

Hounslow Hounslow () is a large suburban district of West London, west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hounslow, and is identified in the London Plan as one of the 12 metropolitan centres in Gr ...

Barracks and went on hunger strike. After three weeks in hospital, he was on 28 February 1917 discharged by the army as being unlikely to become an efficient soldier. He returned to his work at the Pelican Press and the Herald.

Socialism

Meynell was also a socialist who supported the Republicans in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

. His fusion of progressive politics and conservative aesthetic tastes, similar to those 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 ...

caused some amusement amongst his friends; the ''Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science'' notes that "he once set a left-wing propaganda pamphlet in

Cloister Old Face Cloister is a serif typeface that was designed by Morris Fuller Benton and published by American Type Founders from around 1913. It is loosely based on the printing of Nicolas Jenson in Venice in the 1470s, in what is now called the "old style" ...

and surrounded it with a border of 17th-century fleurons."

Family

Meynell married three times. His first wife was Hilda Peppercorn (1886-1962), daughter of painter

Arthur Douglas Peppercorn Arthur Douglas Peppercorn (28 February 1847 - 1926) was a London-born landscape painter who has been likened to Corot.

. She was a concert pianist who performed using the name Hilda Saxe. She married Meynell in 1914 and they had one child, Cynthia. In 1925, following his divorce from Hilda, Meynell married Vera Rosalind Wynn Mendel (1895-1947). She was the daughter of Edith Wynne and

William Mendel William Mendel (1854-1917) was a financier who with his partners arranged funding for several businesses in Britain during the late 19th and early 20th century. These included Harrods, Dickins & Jones, and D H Evans. Some of their money making a ...

, a German born financier who had underwritten several stock market flotations in the late 19th century including

Harrods Harrods Limited is a department store located on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It is currently owned by the state of Qatar via its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority. The Harrods brand also applies to other ...

and D. H. Evans. Vera and their mutual friend David Garnett provided the initial funding for the Nonesuch Press; she also helped in the early days with production and distribution. They had a son in 1930 (Benedict) and divorced in 1945. Vera took her own life on August 4, 1947. Meynell was knighted in 1946 and in the same year married

Alix Kilroy Dame Alix Hester Marie Kilroy, Lady Meynell, Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, DBE (1903–1999)John Commander. Obituary: Dame Alix "Bay" Meynell, ''The Independent'' (London), 2 September 1999. was one of the first two women to h ...

(1903–1999), a civil servant with the Board of Trade. They worked together during

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

on Utility Design, an austere and functional style. After the war they lived and farmed near

Lavenham Lavenham is a village, civil parish and electoral ward in the Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is noted for its Guildhall, Little Hall, 15th-century church, half-timbered medieval cottages and circular walks. In the medie ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

for many years. Their union was childless.

References

* Sir Francis Meynell (1971) ''My Lives'' * Dame Alix Meynell (1988) ''Public Servant, Private Woman: An Autobiography''

Notes

External links

Profile of Sir Francis Meynell

Biography at the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (subscription required)
University of Brighton - Francis Meynell
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meynell, Francis 1891 births 1975 deaths 20th-century British poets British conscientious objectors British male poets British publishers (people) British Roman Catholics British socialists Knights Bachelor People from Lavenham Place of birth missing 20th-century British male writers Private press movement people Letterpress printmakers