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- Arthur Bingham Walkley had a very interesting career. He was born at Bedminster, Bristol, on 17 December 1855 and died 8 October 1926, He was an English dramatic critic and essayist. An only child of Arthur Hickman Walkley, a book¬seller, and Caroline Charlotte Bingham. He attended Warminster School and Balliol College, Oxford, entering October 1873 and being admitted as scholar of Corpus Christi College the following January. He took honours in mathematics.
In June 1877 he became a third class clerk in the Secretary's office of the General Post Office rising in the course of time to principal clerk. In 1911 he was made assistant secretary in charge of the Telegraph branch. As delegate, A.B. Walkley attended postal congresses in Washington and Rome, He was superannuated in 1919.
He was interested in dramatic criticism and became critic for the Star from 1888 to 1890 then switched to the Speaker until it changed hands in 1899. On September 21st 1899 he reviewed Beerbohm Tree's "King John" for the Times and the following March was formally engaged as dramatic critic. Other articles were contributed to the "Wednesday Edition" and to the Literary Supplement after it was founded in 1902.
Arthur Bingham Walkley's wit and style were firmly rooted in thought and knowledge. Critics also praised his unfailing urbanity, his trained and disciplined taste and whimsical mellowed irony. He called himself an impressionist coming fresh and unprejudiced to each book and play; he preferred light comedy to the drama of ideas. Widely read in French literature he liked to seem French in appearance and bearing. Fruit growing and rock gardening at his country home in Brightlingsea, Essex, were his favoured hobbies.
He married Frances Eldridge in 1881 and they had one daughter.
Reference to Arthur Bingham Walkley is made by Colin Simpson in his book "Show Me a Mountain" where he is described as being a Grand Uncle of Sir William Gaston Walkley Kt. C.B.E., the founder of the Ampol Empire in Australia and who was the son of Herbert and Jessie Walkley of Otaki, New Zealand.
Arthur Bingham Walkley is described as being quite a delightful man, a close friend of the play write George Bernard Shaw, and also is described in Edith Oliver's book "Without knowing Mr Walkley". He is also mentioned as being present at a dinner-party given by J.M. Barrie, the guests at which included John Galsworthy, Hilaire Belloc, H.G. Wells and General Lord Freyberg and others.
Careful research shows that Sir William Gaston Walkley's grandfather and Arthur Bingham Walkley's father were brothers so that Colin Simpson's description of Arthur Bingham Walkley being a Grand Uncle is in error as it is his father, Arthur Hickman Walkley who would be grand uncle to Sir William.
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Arthur Bingham Walkley
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Arthur Bingham Walkley (1855-1926) was an English dramatic critic, born in Bristol, and educated at Balliol and Corpus Christi colleges, Oxford. He held important positions in the British postal service, but it was by his dramatic criticism that he became known over the English-speaking world to all interested in British dramatic and theatrical activities. He proved himself a sound and scholarly critic in his notices for the London Times and in contributions to various journals and reviews. George Bernard Shaw dedicated Man and Superman to him, crediting Walkley in the dedication with giving him the idea of writing a Don Juan play. A defender of the Edwardian new drama, he wrote a number of analyses of Henrik Ibsen's plays.
His books include:
Playhouse Impressions (1892)
Frames of Mind (1894)
Dramatic Criticism (1903)
Drama and Life (1907)
Walkley died in 1926.
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1855 - 1926 (70 years)