George Alexander Pyke, Lord Tilbury is a recurring fictional character in the stories of British author

P. G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse ( ; 15 October 1881 – 14 February 1975) was an English writer and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Je ...

. Pyke is a

publishing Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

magnate The term magnate, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...

, the founder and owner of the Mammoth Publishing Company. Outside his business, he has a passion for pigs and is the owner of a prize pig named Buckingham Big Boy. Pyke appears in several novels, including two set at

Blandings Castle Blandings Castle is a recurring fictional location in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being the seat of Lord Emsworth and the setting for numerous tales and adventures. The stories were written between 1915 and 1975. The ...

: '' Heavy Weather'' (1933) and ''

Service With a Smile ''Service with a Smile'' is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on 15 October 1961 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, and in the United Kingdom on 17 August 1962 by Herbert Jenkins, London.McIlvaine (1990), pp. ...

'' (1961).

Inspiration

According to

Robert McCrum John Robert McCrum (born 7 July 1953) is an English writer and editor who held senior editorial positions at Faber & Faber over seventeen years, followed by a long association with ''The Observer''. Early life and education The son of Mich ...

, Wodehouse knew the British publishing magnate

Lord Northcliffe Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe (15 July 1865 – 14 August 1922), was a British newspaper and publishing magnate. As owner of the ''Daily Mail'' and the ''Daily Mirror'', he was an early developer of popular journal ...

, who served as a source of inspiration for Lord Tilbury.

Life

Wodehouse introduces Pyke in '' Bill the Conqueror'' as plain Sir George Pyke. Mammoth Publishing Company is already a mighty undertaking and Pyke is about to become a Lord – he selects the Tilbury title based on the address of his headquarters, at Tilbury House on Tilbury Street. Pyke is not a tall man and runs somewhat to fat. His similarity to

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

, both in physique and character, is often remarked upon. He is a widower, his late wife Lucy having left him a son named

Roderick Roderick, Rodrick or Roderic (Proto-Germanic , from , + , ) is a Germanic name, recorded from the 8th century onward.Förstemann, ''Altdeutsches Namenbuch'' (1856)740 Its Old High German forms are , , , , , ; in Gothic language ; in Old English ...

. He also has a sister named Francie, who is married to an

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

, and he had an elder brother, Edmund Pyke. After school, where he knew both

Lord Emsworth Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl Emsworth, commonly known as Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings Castle series of stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of t ...

and his brother

Galahad Threepwood The Honourable Galahad "Gally" Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings Castle stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Lord Emsworth's younger brother, a lifelong bachelor, Gally was, according to Beach, the Blandings butler, "somewhat wild as a ...

and was given the nickname ''Stinker'', he became a clerk in a

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

's office, but soon broke into the media, founding his first magazine, ''Pyke's Weekly''. With the success of this paper, thanks in no small part to the advice of his sister, Pyke's empire began to grow, accumulating such titles as ''Society Spice'' and ''Home Gossip''. Pyke's right-hand man at the Mammoth is Percy Pilbeam, an efficient young man who becomes editor of ''Society Spice'' when Pyke's son runs off, and later heads up a detective agency.

Stories

George Pyke appears in the following books: * '' Bill the Conqueror'' (1924) – in which much of his family appear, and he becomes a Lord * ''

Sam the Sudden ''Sam the Sudden'' is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on 15 October 1925 by Methuen, London, and in the United States on 6 November 1925 by George H. Doran, New York, under the title ''Sam in the Suburbs''.Mc ...

'' (1925) – (U.S. title: ''Sam in the Suburbs'') * ''

Summer Lightning ''Summer Lightning'' is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on 1 July 1929 by Doubleday (publisher), Doubleday, Doran, New York, under the title ''Fish Preferred'', and in the United Kingdom on 19 July 1929 by Her ...

'' (1929) – in which he only appears off-stage, acting through Pilbeam (U.S. title: ''Fish Preferred'') * '' Heavy Weather'' (1933) – in which he must himself come to

* ''

'' (1961) – in which he comes up against

Uncle Fred Frederick Altamont Cornwallis Twistleton, 5th Earl of Ickenham, commonly known as Uncle Fred, is a fictional character who appears in comedic short stories and novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose an ...

* '' Frozen Assets'' (1964) – in which he finally falls in love (U.S. title: ''Biffen's Millions'') The Mammoth Publishing Company crops up in many other stories, for example providing employment for Ashe Marson and Joan Valentine in ''

Something Fresh ''Something Fresh'' is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published as ''Something New'' in the United States, by D. Appleton & Company on 3 September 1915.McIlvaine, E., Sherby, L.S. and Heineman, J.H. (1990) ''P. G. Wodehouse: A comprehensive ...

''.

Adaptations

Norman Shelley Norman Shelley (16 February 1903 – 21 August 1980) was a British actor, best known for his work in radio, in particular for the BBC's ''Children's Hour''. He also had a recurring role as Colonel Danby in the long-running radio soap opera ''Th ...

portrayed Lord Tilbury in the 1938 radio adaptation of ''Sam the Sudden'', which was titled ''Semi-Detached''. Lord Tilbury was voiced by

John Savident John Frederick Joseph Savident (21 January 1938 – 21 February 2024) was a British actor, known for his numerous television roles, including his portrayal of Fred Elliott in the soap opera ''Coronation Street'' from 1994 to 2006. He was also ...

in the '' Blandings'' radio series adaptation of ''Heavy Weather'' in 1988. He was portrayed by

Richard Johnson Richard or Dick Johnson may refer to: Academics * Dick Johnson (academic) (1929–2019), Australian academic * Richard C. Johnson (1930–2003), professor of electrical engineering * Richard A. Johnson, artist and professor at the University of ...

in the 1995 television film '' Heavy Weather''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pyke, George Alexander, Lord Tilbury P. G. Wodehouse characters Fictional lords and ladies Literary characters introduced in 1924