Drinkwater, John

(1882-1937)

   Born at Leytonstone, Essex, the son of a schoolmaster turned actor, theatrical manager, and playwright, he grew up in Oxfordshire and worked as an insurance clerk with the Northern Assurance Company. Later, in Birmingham, and dissatisfied with his work, he met (Sir) Barry Jackson and in 1907 they founded the Pilgrim Players, an amateur dramatic society that developed into the Birmingham Repertory Theatre Company, with Drinkwater as the manager (1913). A prolific poet as well as playwright, he was one of the group of poets associated with the Gloucestershire village of Dymock. His work appeared in Georgian Poetry (1912-1922). He also wrote stories for children and produced several critical studies. Some of his publications: Poems, 1903. Abraham Lincoln, 1918 (which had a year's run at the Hammersmith Lyric Theatre). Mary Stuart, 1921. Oliver Cromwell, 1921. Robert E. Lee, 1923. The Collected Poems, 1923. Bird in Hand, 1927 (a comedy, successful on both sides of the Atlantic). Summer Harvest, 1933 (poetry collection). Some of his poems: "Christmas Eve," "David and Jonathan," "Fairford Nightingales," "John Keats," "Rupert Brooke," "The Cotswold Farmers."

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. Poems by John Drinkwater: Poets' Corner Bookshelf (http://www.theotherpages.org/poems/gp2_4a.html). The Collected Poems of John Drinkwater (1917-1922). Sidgwick and Jackson Limited, 1923. The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.org.uk). The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia).