27 Facts About Arthur Morrison

Arthur George Morrison was an English writer and journalist known for realistic novels, for stories about working-class life in the East End of London, and for detective stories featuring a specific detective, Martin Hewitt.

Arthur Morrison collected Japanese art and published several works on the subject.

Arthur Morrison was born on 1 November 1863 in suburban Poplar.

Arthur Morrison's father George was an engine fitter at the London Docks in Wapping, who died in 1871 of tuberculosis, leaving his wife Jane with Arthur and two other children.

Arthur Morrison later remembered frequenting used bookstores in Whitechapel Road about this time.

In 1880 Arthur Morrison's mother took over a shop in Grundy Street.

Arthur Morrison published his first work, a humorous poem, in the magazine Cycling in 1880, and took up cycling and boxing.

In 1885 Arthur Morrison placed his first serious journalism in the newspaper The Globe.

In 1890 Arthur Morrison left that job for the editorial staff of The Globe and moved to lodgings in the Strand.

Arthur Morrison befriended the writer and editor William Ernest Henley and supplied stories of working-class life for Henley's National Observer between 1892 and 1894.

In 1894 Arthur Morrison published his first detective story to feature the detective Martin Hewitt.

Reviewers of the collection objected to his story Lizerunt, causing Arthur Morrison to write a response in 1895.

Arthur Morrison continued to show interest in Japanese art, to which he was introduced by a friend in 1890.

Arthur Morrison began writing his novel A Child of the Jago in early 1896.

Arthur Morrison published The Adventures of Martin Hewitt in 1896.

In 1897 Arthur Morrison issued seven short stories covering the exploits of Horace Dorrington.

In 1899 Arthur Morrison published To London Town as the final instalment of a trilogy including Tales of Mean Streets and A Child of the Jago.

Arthur Morrison continued to issue a wide variety of work through the 1900s, including short story collections, one-act plays and articles on Japanese art.

Arthur Morrison completed a play in collaboration with a neighbour, Horace Newte.

In 1906 Arthur Morrison donated some 1,800 Japanese woodblock prints to the British Museum.

Morrison's son Guy joined the army in 1914 to serve in World War I In 1915 Morrison became a special constable in Essex and was credited with reporting news of the first Zeppelin raid on London.

Arthur Morrison was elected as a member of the Royal Society of Literature in 1924.

In 1930 Arthur Morrison moved to his last home, in Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire.

Arthur Morrison died in 1945, leaving in his will his collection of Japanese paintings, prints and ceramics to the British Museum.

Arthur Morrison directed that his library be sold and his private papers burned.

The Arthur Morrison Society, formed in 2007, began with a public reading by Morrison's grave, followed by a talk by Stan Newens, who later wrote a book about Morrison.

Since then, the Arthur Morrison Society has held talks and other events as part of the Loughton Festival, including a talk by Tim Clark of the British Museum about Arthur Morrison's Japanese art collection.