Arthur Waugh (27 August 1866 – 26 June 1943) was an England author, literary critic and publisher. He was the father of the authors Alec Waugh and Evelyn Waugh.
Early life
Waugh was born in
Midsomer Norton,
Somerset, in 1866,
elder son of prosperous country physician Alexander Waugh (1840-1906), who bullied his wife and children and became known in the Waugh family as "the Brute", and Annie (née Morgan), of a strict Plymouth Brethren background. Waugh's mother Annie was a second cousin of
Edmund Gosse, her mother, Anne, being first cousin of the naturalist Philip Henry Gosse.
[Evelyn Waugh- Fictions, Faith and Family, Michael G. Brennan, Bloomsbury, 2013, pp. xv, xvi] His great-grandfather Rev. Alexander Waugh (1754–1827) was a minister in the Secession Church of Scotland who helped found the London Missionary Society and was one of the leading Nonconformist preachers of his day.
[Stannard, Vol. I p. 12]
He was educated at Sherborne School, Sherborne, Dorset,
Career
In 1892, he wrote the first biography of the poet
Alfred Tennyson, which was published by William Heinemann. In 1894, he contributed to the first issue of the magazine
The Yellow Book and again in 1895 to the sixth issue. In 1899, he wrote the rhymes for a children's book with illustrations by William Nicholson.
In 1900, Waugh wrote and published
Robert Browning, a brief biography of the author
Robert Browning.
[ "Robert Browning" by Arthur Waugh] He was also a regular correspondent for the magazine
The New York Critic, and from 1906 to 1931, he was a literary critic for the London newspaper
The Daily Telegraph.
His published works include poetry, biographies, literary criticism, and an autobiography, titled One Man's Road, published in 1931.
From 1902 to 1930, he was the Managing Director and Chairman of the publishing house Chapman and Hall,[Obituary. The Times, Monday, Jun 28, 1943; Issue 49583; pg. 6; col G — Mr. Arthur Waugh, Author and Publisher]
Personal life
In 1893, Waugh was married to Catherine Charlotte "Kate" Raban (1870–1954), a great-granddaughter of Lord Cockburn (1779–1854).
Together, they were the parents of two sons:
-
Alec Waugh (1898–1981), a novelist who married three times.
-
Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966), a novelist who married twice.
Waugh befriended Elizabeth Myers the novelist and short storywriter, encouraging her to continue writing and publishing.
He died at his home in Highgate, in greater London, England, on 26 June 1943.
Works
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Alfred Lord Tennyson: A Study of His Life and Work; published by William Heinemann, London, 1892
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Reticence in Literature; The Yellow Book, Vol.I April 1894, Page 201
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The Auction Room of Letters; The Yellow Book, Vol.VI July 1895, Page 257
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The Square Book of Animals; published by William Heinemann, London, 1900 and illustrated by William Nicolson
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''Robert Browning'; published as part of The Westminster Biographies series by Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co, London, 1900
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Reticence In Literature And Other Papers; published by J G Wilson, London, 1915
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Tradition and Change: Studies in Contemporary Literature; published by Chapman and Hall, London, 1919
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A Hundred Years of Publishing, Being the Story of Chapman & Hall; published by Chapman and Hall, London, 1930
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One Man's Road: being a Picture of Life in a Passing Generation; published by Chapman and Hall, London, 1931.
Bibliography
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One Man's Road: being a Picture of Life in a Passing Generation by Arthur Waugh, 1931.
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My Father: Arthur Waugh in "The Early Years of Alec Waugh" by Alec Waugh, 1962.
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Fathers and Sons: The Autobiography of a Family by Alexander Waugh, 2004.
External links
