John Hay Beith
| John Hay Beith | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
17 April 1876 Rusholme, Manchester |
| Died | 22 September 1952 (aged 76) Liss, Petersfield, Hampshire |
| Pen name | Ian Hay |
| Occupation | schoolmaster, soldier |
| Nationality | British |
| Period | 20th century |
| Genre | drama, novels, non-fiction |
| Subject | romantic comedy, school life, military life |
Major General John Hay Beith, CBE (17 April 1876 – 22 September 1952), was a British schoolmaster and soldier, but he is best remembered as a novelist, playwright, essayist and historian who wrote under the pen name Ian Hay.
After reading Classics at Cambridge, Beith became a schoolmaster. In 1907 he published a novel, Pip; its success and that of several more novels enabled him to give up teaching in 1912 to be a full-time author. During the First World War, Beith served as an officer in the army in France. His good-humoured account of army life, The First Hundred Thousand, published in 1915, was a best-seller. On the strength of this, he was sent to work in the information section of the British War Mission in Washington, D.C.
After the war Beith's novels did not achieve the popularity of his earlier work, but he made a considerable career as a dramatist, writing light comedies, often in collaboration with other authors including P. G. Wodehouse and Guy Bolton. During the Second World War Beith served as Director of Public Relations at the War Office, retiring in 1941 shortly before his 65th birthday.
Among Beith's later works were several war histories, which were not as well received as his comic fiction and plays. His one serious play, Hattie Stowe (1947), was politely reviewed but had a short run. In the same year he co-wrote a comedy, Off the Record, which ran for more than 700 performances.
John Hay Beith was born at Platt Abbey, Rusholme, Manchester, the third son and sixth child of John Alexander Beith, and his wife Janet, née Fleming. Beith senior was a cotton merchant, magistrate, and leading member of the local Liberals. Both Beith's parents were of Scottish descent; his paternal grandfather was a Presbyterian clergyman, Alexander Beith, one of the founders of the Free Church of Scotland in 1843. Like his father, Beith had a lifelong pride in his Scottish ancestry; he did not share his father's political views, and was a Conservative.
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