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John Buchan
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Great Britons: 250 Lives

Britain Unlimited covers 250 Great British people and what made them famous


Who was John Buchan?

Novelist, Biographer, and Statesman.

Date and Place of Birth:

26th August 1875, Perth, Scotland.

Family Background:

Son of a free church Minister.

Education:

Hutcheson's Boys School. Glasgow University. Brasenose College, Oxford.

Chronology/Biography of John Buchan:

1901: Finished his studies as a lawyer and was called to the Bar. Became private secretary to Lord Milner who was the High Commissioner for South Africa.

1903: Returned to Britain to become a director of the firm of Nelson's the publishing house.

1909: He had begun writing adventure stories in his spare time which culminated in the publication of his first novel "Prester John.

1914: At the start of the First World War he served on the staff at Army headquarters a post he held until 1917.

1915: Publication of his most famous thriller "The Thirty Nine Steps" featuring his spy Richard Hannay which he wrote in Broadstairs, Kent whilst recovering from an illness. Hannay was based on a young Army officer Lieutenant Edmund Ironside whom he had met in South Africa during the Boer War.

1917: Made Director of Information.

1927: Elected Member of Parliament for the Scottish Universities.

1928: Wrote a biographer of Montrose.

1932: Wrote a biography of Sir Walter Scott.

1935: Raised to the Peerage as the First Baron Tweedsmuir as he was made Governor-General of Canada.

1937: Made a Privy Councillor and Chancellor of Edinburgh University.

Written Works:

  • 1909: "Prester John".
  • 1922:"Huntingtower"
  • 1915: "The Thirty-Nine Steps".
  • 1916: "Greenmantle".
  • 1917: "Poems Scots and English".
  • 1919: "Mr Standfast".
  • 1924: "The Northern Muse", "The Three Hostages",
  • 1927: "WitchWood"
  • 1928: "Montrose".
  • 1932: "Sir Walter Scott".

Marriage:

1907 To Susan Grosvenor.

Places of Interest:

LONDON:

The British Library

Date and Place of Death:

11th February 1940, Montreal, Canada.

Age at Death:

64.

Site of Grave:

St. Thomas of Canterbury Churchyard, Elsfield, Oxfordshire, England.

Further Information:

John Buchan Society
c/o Kenneth Hillier
Green Mairn Street
Kings Newton
Malsonne
Derby
DE73 1EX

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