Archief GB 0096 SLV/58-62 - Hanley, James (1901-1985)

Identificatie

referentie code

GB 0096 SLV/58-62

Titel

Hanley, James (1901-1985)

Datum(s)

  • 1926-[1936] (Vervaardig)

Beschrijvingsniveau

Archief

Omvang en medium

5 items

Context

Naam van de archiefvormer

Biografie

Hanley, James (1901-1985), novelist and playwright, was born in Dublin in 1901, the son of Edward Hanley, a ship's stoker. The only school Hanley attended was St Alexandra's Roman Catholic primary school, near his home. At the age of twelve he left school and joined the merchant navy, serving in a submarine during the First World War. Three years later he jumped ship at New Brunswick to enlist in the Canadian Black Watch and eventually saw action in France. Invalided out of the army suffering from the effects of gas, he returned to the sea, working as a stoker on troop carriers, which he featured in some of his novels. He continued to educate himself, mainly by reading Russian literature, and having come ashore in the late 1920s earned a precarious living in a variety of jobs in docks, on the railway, and for a while at Aintree racecourse. Many of his early stories were published in the Liverpool Echo, the editor of which, E. Hope Prince, became his mentor.

Hanley's first novel, Drift (1930), and his first volume of stories, The German Prisoner (1930), were published shortly before his move to Wales, where he settled first at Glan Ceirw, Ty-nant, near Corwen in Merioneth, and then, in the autumn of 1941, at Bodynfoel Lodge and Tan-y-ffridd in the village of Llanfechain, Montgomeryshire. His second novel, Boy (1932), was originally published in an edition of 145 copies for subscribers only. An expurgated trade edition followed, but when in 1934 it was issued in a cheap edition, copies were seized by the police and the book was successfully prosecuted for obscenity. The publisher was fined £400 and copies of the book were burnt. Hanley forbade republication of the novel during his lifetime and it was not reissued until 1990.

The first of Hanley's novels about the Furys, a Liverpool Irish family, appeared in 1935 and a volume of autobiography, Broken Water, in 1937. On the outbreak of the Second World War he found work with the BBC and later with the Ministry of Information, but his home remained in Llanfechain until 1963, when he and his wife moved to London. During the war he wrote three novels of the sea which are among his best work: Hollow Sea (1938), The Ocean (1941), and Sailor's Song (1943). He also wrote the autobiographical No Directions (1943). Many of his stories and radio plays were broadcast on the BBC Third Programme during the 1940s. During his long residence in Wales, Hanley wrote four books: a collection of essays, 'Don Quixote Drowned' (1953), and the novels The Welsh Sonata (1954), Another World (1971), and A Kingdom (1978). His Selected Stories appeared in 1947 and Collected Stories in 1953. Hanley of bronchial pneumonia died in November 1985.

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Geschiedenis van het archief

GB 0096 SLV/58-62 1926-[1936] fonds 5 items Hanley , James , 1901-1985 , author and playwright

Hanley, James (1901-1985), novelist and playwright, was born in Dublin in 1901, the son of Edward Hanley, a ship's stoker. The only school Hanley attended was St Alexandra's Roman Catholic primary school, near his home. At the age of twelve he left school and joined the merchant navy, serving in a submarine during the First World War. Three years later he jumped ship at New Brunswick to enlist in the Canadian Black Watch and eventually saw action in France. Invalided out of the army suffering from the effects of gas, he returned to the sea, working as a stoker on troop carriers, which he featured in some of his novels. He continued to educate himself, mainly by reading Russian literature, and having come ashore in the late 1920s earned a precarious living in a variety of jobs in docks, on the railway, and for a while at Aintree racecourse. Many of his early stories were published in the Liverpool Echo, the editor of which, E. Hope Prince, became his mentor.

Hanley's first novel, Drift (1930), and his first volume of stories, The German Prisoner (1930), were published shortly before his move to Wales, where he settled first at Glan Ceirw, Ty-nant, near Corwen in Merioneth, and then, in the autumn of 1941, at Bodynfoel Lodge and Tan-y-ffridd in the village of Llanfechain, Montgomeryshire. His second novel, Boy (1932), was originally published in an edition of 145 copies for subscribers only. An expurgated trade edition followed, but when in 1934 it was issued in a cheap edition, copies were seized by the police and the book was successfully prosecuted for obscenity. The publisher was fined £400 and copies of the book were burnt. Hanley forbade republication of the novel during his lifetime and it was not reissued until 1990.

The first of Hanley's novels about the Furys, a Liverpool Irish family, appeared in 1935 and a volume of autobiography, Broken Water, in 1937. On the outbreak of the Second World War he found work with the BBC and later with the Ministry of Information, but his home remained in Llanfechain until 1963, when he and his wife moved to London. During the war he wrote three novels of the sea which are among his best work: Hollow Sea (1938), The Ocean (1941), and Sailor's Song (1943). He also wrote the autobiographical No Directions (1943). Many of his stories and radio plays were broadcast on the BBC Third Programme during the 1940s. During his long residence in Wales, Hanley wrote four books: a collection of essays, 'Don Quixote Drowned' (1953), and the novels The Welsh Sonata (1954), Another World (1971), and A Kingdom (1978). His Selected Stories appeared in 1947 and Collected Stories in 1953. Hanley of bronchial pneumonia died in November 1985.

Papers of James Hanley, 1926-[1936], comprising holograph manuscripts of novels, with some correspondence.

Open, subject to the conditions outlined at fonds level.

English

Imported from the Senate House catalogue and edited by Sarah Drewery.

General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal Place and Corporate Names 1997.

Feb 2009. Hanley , James , 1901-1985 , author and playwright Literature

Directe bron van verwerving of overbrenging

Inhoud en structuur

Bereik en inhoud

Papers of James Hanley, 1926-[1936], comprising holograph manuscripts of novels, with some correspondence.

Waardering, vernietiging en slectie

Aanvullingen

Ordeningstelsel

Voorwaarden voor toegang en gebruik

Voorwaarden voor raadpleging

Open, subject to the conditions outlined at fonds level.

Voorwaarden voor reproductie

Taal van het materiaal

  • Engels

Schrift van het materiaal

  • Latijn

Taal en schrift aantekeningen

English

Fysieke eigenschappen en technische eisen

Toegangen

Verwante materialen

Bestaan en verblifplaats van originelen

Bestaan en verblijfplaats van kopieën

Related units of description

Related descriptions

Notitie Publicaties

Aantekeningen

Aantekening

Alternative identifier(s)

Trefwoorden

Onderwerp trefwoord

Geografische trefwoorden

Naam ontsluitingsterm

Genre access points

Beschrijvingsbeheer

Identificatie van de beschrijving

Identificatiecode van de instelling

Senate House Library, University of London

Toegepaste regels en/of conventies

General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal Place and Corporate Names 1997.

Status

Niveau van detaillering

Verwijdering van datering archiefvorming

Taal (talen)

  • Engels

Schrift(en)

    Bronnen

    Voorwaarden voor raadpleging en gebruik