Who was R.D. Blackmore?
Novelist.
Date and Place of Birth:
7th June 1825, The Vicarage, Longworth, Berkshire,
England. Christened Richard Doddridge Blackmore.
Family Background:
Son of the John Blackmore the Curate of Longworth.
Education:
Squire’s Grammar School in South Molton
and then Blundell's School, Tiverton, Devon where his father has
studied. Exeter College, Oxford where he read classics.
Chronology/Biography of R.D.
Blackmore:
His mother died of typhus when he was three months
old and he was brought up by his Aunt Mary in Oxfordshire..
1831: Back living
with his father in Devon with his new wife Charlotte.
Spent much of his childhood in Exmoor Devon in
what has now become known as "Doone Country." Here he
would hear tales of outlaws who lived among the remote hills and
valleys.
1852: Called to
the bar but never practised due to his epilepsy. When on to teach
Greek and Latin at Wellesley Grammar School.
1853: Published
some poems under his pseudonym Melanter which was Greek for more
black.
1860: He inherited
some money from his uncle the Rev H.H. Knight of Neath in South
Wales and he and his wife used it to build a house in Teddington
called Gomer House. He became a keen grower of plants and fruit
whilst translating the works of Horace and Virgil. He published
essays on fruit growing.
1875: Death of his
brother Henry John Turberville of poisoning.
1883: Became a member
of the Royal Horticultural Society. Although his fruit business
never became a great business triumph he finally achieved moderate
fame with his novel Lorna Doone" an historical romance which
is partly fictionalised and partly true. It is set in Seventeenth
Century Exmoor where a young farmer John Riodd tries to taske revenge
on the Doone Clan oroginally from Scotland who had killed his father
when he was young. He falls in love with Lorna.
Typical scene on the moors with Exmoor Pony
(© Anthony Blagg)
1888: Death of his
wife Lucy. He was then cared for by his nieces Eva and Adalgisa
Pinto-Leite. Corresponded with many literary notables of the day
especially Thomas Hardy.
Written Works:
- 1855:
"Epullia". "The Bugle of the Black Sea"
- 1860: "The
Fate of Franklin"
- 1864:“Clara
Vaughan”. “The Maid”. (Blackmore’s favourite work)
- 1866: “Craddock
Nowell”. (first serialised in Macmillan's Magazine)
- 1869: “Lorna
Doone”
- 1872:
“The Maid of Sker”
- 1875: "Alice
Lorraine"
- 1876: "Cripps
the Carrier"
- 1880: "Mary
Annerley"
- 1882: "Christowell"
- 1884: "Sir
Thomas Upmore"
- 1887:
“Springhaven”
- 1890: "Kit
and Kitty"
- 1894:
“Perlycross”
- 1896: "Tales
from a Telling House"
- 1897: "Dariel"
Marriage:
1853 to Lucy Maguire at Holy Trinity Church,
Holborn, London.
Places of Interest:
DEVON:
Memorial Tablet, Exeter Cathedral. erected by
a committeee including Thomas Hardy and
Rudyard Kipling
SOMERSET:
"Doone Valley" Exmoor National Park
.
Date and Place of Death:
20th January 1900, Teddington, England after
a long and painful illness.
Age at Death:
74.
Site of Grave:
Teddington Cemetery Teddington, London, England
alongside his wife Lucy.
