Frederic Manning
| Frederic Manning | |
|---|---|
| Born |
22 July 1882 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Died | 22 February 1935 (aged 52) Hampstead, London, England |
| Pen name | Private 19022 |
| Occupation | Poet, Novelist |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Period | 1907–1929 |
| Genre | Poetry, War Fiction, Biography |
| Subject | Sir William White |
Frederic Manning (22 July 1882 – 22 February 1935) was an Australian poet and novelist.
Born in Sydney, Manning was one of eight children of local politician Sir William Patrick Manning. His family were Roman Catholics of Irish origin. A sickly child who suffered from asthma, Manning was educated exclusively at home. As a teenager he formed a close friendship with the Reverend Arthur Galton, a scholarly man who was secretary to the Governor of New South Wales. Galton went home to England in 1898, taking Manning with him. Manning returned to Australia in 1900 but finally settled in the United Kingdom in 1903.
Manning moved in with Galton, who had become the vicar of Edenham, a village about three miles north-west of Bourne in south Lincolnshire. He devoted his time to study, reading voraciously, particularly the classics and philosophy, under the domineering influence of Galton. Although he seemingly shared Galton's contempt for Catholicism, Manning never renounced it entirely. He 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. Scenes and Portraits followed in 1909, which was a discussion of religious topics written in the form of a series of debates in which those taking part are leading lights from the past, such as Socrates, Francis of Assisi and Thomas Cromwell. These books went down well in literary circles, but did not enjoy a particularly wide circulation. Manning was recognised as an up-and-coming writer, a reputation that the indifferent collection Poems (1910) did not dissipate.
Manning was never the most robust of individuals, neither was his lifestyle particularly healthy. Despite his asthma, he became a heavy smoker, and he seems to have sought escape from his loneliness in the local public houses. In the years immediately before World War I, he started to move in London artistic circles, becoming friends with Max Beerbohm and William Rothenstein (there is a collection of letters from Manning to Rothenstein), as well as the influential young poets Ezra Pound and Richard Aldington.
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