The H E Bates Society
|
The H E Bates Society
|
|
|
H E Bates was born on 16 May 1905, in Rushden, Northamptonshire. He was christened Herbert Ernest Bates, but was known as H.E. throughout his adult life, both personally and professionally H.E. Bates knew from an early age that he wanted to be a writer, and spent many of his formative years in nearby Higham Ferrers at the home of his maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. George Lucas. This gave him an affinity with this small ancient borough which lasted all his life, and he set a number of his books there, most famously The Sleepless Moon and many of his Uncle Silas Stories revolve around fictitious versions of his relatives and local residents in the Town. Bates attended local schools in Rushden before obtaining a scholarship to Kettering Grammar School where he obtained his first encouragement to write from his English teacher Edmund Kirby, a former army officer wounded in World War 1, who was to become a lifelong friend. Upon leaving school he obtained employment as a junior reporter in nearby Wellingborough, but soon found the frustration of reporting on endless fetes and court hearings , and a boss he did not get on with too hard to bear. The two things from this period that stuck were a young girl in a red lined cloak getting out of a carriage at a station, and a visit to the nearby Rushden Hall, which were to inspire him much later to write Love for Lydia. Bates obtained employment at a leather factor's warehouse, and in truth this was where his writing really took off as he had long periods with nothing to do, and used the time to write his first novel The Two Sisters. All was not plain sailing however as he received the first of a number of rejections from publishers. Some may find it hard to understand how this could be in a man who was described by Grahame Greene as 'Britain's successor to Chekhov', but in truth as many have found before and since, getting the backing of a publisher can be very hard work indeed. Eventually he found a publisher in Jonathon Cape and more importantly he met Edward Garnett who had a talent for discovering new young writers of promise, and who was to guide and influence his work. Bates also obtained employment in London at the booksellers John and Edward Bumpus in Oxford Street, who were booksellers to HM the King. He worked in the childrens department, and at Christmas that year his employers published The Seekers written by Bates. They sent out copies of the book to their customers as Christmas presents, describing the work as of 'a young and brilliant writer' and describing its literary quality as 'so considerable that it may worthily be offered to our friends.' Bates set about writing and building on his first modest success and was to eventually become a very prolific and varied writer with work ranging from The Two Sisters to The Darling Buds of May, via wartime writing of the Flying Officer X Stories, Fair Stood the Wind For France, plus a plethora of Uncle Silas and other short stories. In fact, he. was so prolific as a writer that compiling a bibliography is a nightmare task. H.E. Bates married Marjorie (Madge) Cox in 1931 and they made their home together in an old granary which they transformed in Little Chart, Kent. The house had an absolute wilderness of a garden which Bates spent many hours transforming to a thing of beauty. They had four children, Ann, Judith. Richard and Jonathon, and H.E. dedicated to them especially the book The Seasons and the Gardener, which was beautifully illustrated by Charles Tunnicliffe. During World War Two Bates joined the Royal Air Force where he was commissioned to write stories of service life using the pseudonym Flying Officer X. His stories appeared in the News Chronicle on a weekly basis in 1942, each accompanied by an appropriate illustration. The stories were so popular that despite a paper shortage it was agreed that Jonathon Cape should publish them, with over 16,000 copies being printed, and a total printing of a staggering 100,000 copies. The volume was a runaway best seller and led to a major disagreement between Bates and the publishers, who maintained that he. was not entitled to any royalties from the book as he had been an officer of the Crown when he wrote the stories. This eventually led to a break up with Jonathon Cape, and H.E. Bates joined Laurence Pollinger the literary agent as a client, and publishers Michael Joseph, both of whom he was to remain for the rest of his life. As the War progressed his output was undiminished, with further Flying Officer X Stories, How Sleep the Brave and Other Stories and O More than Happy Countryman appearing. This was followed by There's Freedom in the Air for HMSO, and the truly great Fair Stood the Wind For France. There were also two big disappointments, The Night Battle of Britain and The Battle of the Flying Bomb were both commissioned and written but never published. Bates' work at this time took him to India and Burma, and can truly be said to have opened his creativity further as can be evidenced in The Purple Plain, The Jacaranda Tree and The Scarlet Sword, which were all published in the five years following the end of World War Two. It can also be said that his wartime service had opened the eyes of H.E. much more to the psychological makeup of his characters, and this can he seen in his writing thereafter. H.E. had such a truly wide range of talent which even encompassed incorporating his love of gardening into articles and books on the subject, and his love of the countryside where his writing included a regular column in The Spectator. Bates commenced in the 1950's a new style of writing, that of the novella, with the first The Nature of Love being published in 1953. His publishers had been sceptical of the work, however it achieved critical acclaim and sold well. The output of novels however was undiminished with Love for Lydia (1953) and The Sleepless Moon(1956) both being set in his old home town and Higham Ferrers respectively. A further magnificent achievement was the publication of The Daffodil Sky, a collection of 15 short stories, published in 1955, which sold over 10,000 copies. This was to be followed in 1958 by The Darling Buds of May which the critics panned and the public loved. The creation of the amoral Larkin family was so successful that it was followed by A Breath of French Air and When the Greenwoods Laugh which were well received. The trilogy of novels were later to be produced for television by Richard Bates to even greater public approbation and critical acclaim. The trilogy later became a quintet with Oh to be in England and A Little of What You Fancy. Bates continued to work unabated, completing three volumes of his autobiography, The Vanished World, The Blossoming World and The World in Ripeness, followed by The Triple Echo and Dulcima all over a short period. During the 60's he also produced writing for children, The White Admiral, Achilles the Donkey, Achilles and Diana and Achilles and the Twins, in addition to more Uncle Silas stories and gardening books such as A Love of Flowers and A Fountain of Flowers. H.E. Bates was created CBE in June 1973 and died in January 1974. |
Send mail to
webmaster@hebates.co.uk with
questions or comments about this web site.
|
