20 Facts About Frederic Manning

Frederic Manning was an Australian poet and novelist.

Frederic Manning returned to Australia in 1900 but finally settled in the United Kingdom in 1903.

Frederic Manning moved in with Galton, who had become the vicar of Edenham, a village about three miles north-west of Bourne in south Lincolnshire.

Frederic Manning devoted his time to study, reading voraciously, particularly the classics and philosophy, under the domineering influence of Galton.

Frederic Manning made several unsuccessful attempts to write a historical novel, and in 1907 published his first book, The Vigil of Brunhild, which was a monologue written in verse.

Frederic Manning was recognised as an up-and-coming writer, a reputation that the indifferent collection Poems did not dissipate.

Frederic Manning was never the most robust of individuals, neither was his lifestyle particularly healthy.

When war broke out, Frederic Manning was keen to enlist, possibly to escape from a stifling environment and to widen his horizons.

Frederic Manning was a private with the service number 19022.

Frederic Manning was selected for officer training, but failed the course.

Frederic Manning was recalled for further training and posted to Ireland in May 1917 with a commission as a second lieutenant in the Royal Irish Regiment.

Frederic Manning's inebriation was put down to neurasthenia, but Manning resigned his commission on 28 February 1918.

Frederic Manning wrote for periodicals, including The Criterion, which was produced by T S Eliot.

Poetry did not pay, and so in 1923 Frederic Manning took a commission from his publisher John Murray to write The Life of Sir William White, a biography of the man who, as Director of Naval Construction, led the build-up of the Royal Navy in the last years of the nineteenth century.

Frederic Manning lived for much of the time at the Bull Hotel in Bourne, apart from a short spell when he owned a farmhouse in Surrey.

The protagonist, Bourne, is the filter through which Frederic Manning's experiences are transposed into the lives of a group of men whose qualities interact in response to conflict and comradeship.

Frederic Manning was first credited with authorship posthumously in 1943 but the original text was published widely only in 1977.

Frederic Manning's biographers suggest he eschewed intimacy, and that his long-time host Galton and the hostesses of the literary salons which he visited should be seen as "parent-substitute" figures.

Frederic Manning died of respiratory diseases at a Hampstead nursing home.

Frederic Manning's obituary appeared in The Times on 26 February 1935.