Biographies

M

Maas, Henry, (1929–). Edited the letters of Housman (1971) and Aubrey Beardsley (1975) and co-edited those of Ernest Dowson.

MacArthur, Douglas (1880–1964). American soldier. Dismissed from his command by President Truman in 1951 for insubordination.

Macartney, Charles George (1886–1958). Australian cricketer. Test player (originally an all rounder, later a leading batsman) 1907–1927.

Macaulay, Dame (Emilie) Rose (1881–1958). Novelist, travel writer and biographer. Her last and best-known novel was The Towers of Trebizond (1956). Her non-fiction work includes They Went to Portugal, The Pleasures of Ruins, and a biography of Milton. 

Macaulay, Thomas Babington (1800–1859). 1st Baron Macaulay. English historian, author, poet and Liberal politician. His best-known works are Lays of Ancient Rome and the unfinished History of England from the Accession of James the Second. 

MacCarthy, Sir Desmond (1878–1952). Literary and dramatic critic. He joined The New Statesman in 1913, becoming its literary editor in 1920. Later he wrote a weekly literary column in The Sunday Times. 

MacDonald, Philip (1899–1981). Author of detective fiction. Also wrote as Oliver Fleming, Anthony Lawless and Martin Porlock.

Mackenzie, Sir (Edward Montague) Compton (1883–1972). Novelist, and co-founder of The Gramophone magazine with his brother in law, Christopher Stone.

MacLaren, Archibald Campbell (1871–1944). Cricketer. England, 1894–1909, Lancashire, 1890–1923. His 424 for Lancashire against Somerset in 1895 was a record that stood for nearly 30 years until surpassed by D G Bradman.

MacLean, Donald Duart (1913–1983). Soviet agent in Britain, 1934–1951. Fled to Russia in 1951 and lived there for the rest of his life.

MacLeod, Kenneth Grant (1888–1967). Cricketer. Cambridge University, Lancashire 1908–1914.

MacNaghten, Hugh Vibart (d. 1929 aged 67). Eton master, 1886–1920. Vice-provost of Eton 1920–29. Described by his ex-pupil Sir Charles Tennyson as 'a saint and a poet.' Drowned in the Thames; the coroner's verdict was 'suicide while temporarily insane'. Publications: The Story of Catullus; Ave Regina; Verse Ancient and Modern; Eton Letters; Emile Coué, The Man and his Work; Little Masterpieces from the Anthology; Fifty Years of Eton in Prose and Verse; the Poems of Catullus done into English Verse; The Odes of Horace done into English Verse; Translation of the Antigone; Virgil's Secret.

MacNeice, (Frederick) Louis (1907–1963). Poet.

Madan, Geoffrey (1885–1947). Scholar and bibliophile. Selections from his Notebooks were published in 1981 edited by John Sparrow and John Gere.

Madariaga, Salvador de (1886–1978) Spanish diplomat, writer, historian and pacifist.

Magnolia, Louis F (né Magliola) (d. 1933). American boxing referee. The incident to which GWL refers may have been Magnolia's disqualifying Phil Scott of England in his bout with Jack Sharkey in Miami in 1930. The Times, however, made no comment on Magnolia's name, then or at any other time.

Magnus, Sir Philip Montefiore (1906–1988). Author. Biographer of Gladstone (1954) and Edward VII (1964).

Mahler, Gustav (1860–1911). Bohemian-Austrian conductor and composer. In the 1950s his symphonies were not played as often as they have latterly been.

Mallarmé, Stéphane (né Étienne Mallarmé) 1842–1898. French poet and critic. Outside France he is best known for the musical works inspired by his poetry, Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894), a free interpretation of Mallarmé's poem L'après-midi d'un faune (1876), Ravel's Trois poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé (1913) and Boulez's Pli selon pli (1957–1962).

Malory, Sir Thomas (c. 1405–1471) Author of Le Morte d'Arthur.

Manilius, Marcus (fl. 1st century AD). Roman poet, astrologer, and author of a poem in five books called Astronomica. A E Housman made a special study of Manilius.

Manningham-Buller, Reginald Edward (1905–1980). 1st Viscount Dilhorne. Conservative politician. Solicitor General, 1951–54; Attorney-general, 1954–1962; Lord Chancellor, 1962–1964.

Marford, Charles. Actor. Member of the Old Vic company in the 1920s. Manager of the Byre Theatre during WWII. Reputedly now a benevolent ghost called 'Charlie' who watches from the Byre Theatre balcony but disappears when directly looked at.

Margaret, Princess (1930–2002). Countess of Snowdon, younger daughter of George VI.

Marillier, Henry Currie (1865–1951). Authority on tapestries. Author of books on D G Rossetti, Aubrey Beardsley, and the Liverpool School. Supervised the restoration of the tapestries at Hampton Court, Blenheim, Chatsworth and Westminster Abbey. Married Christabel Hopkins in 1906.

Marlowe, Christopher (1564–1593). Playwright, poet, and translator. The foremost Elizabethan tragedian before William Shakespeare, he is known for his blank verse, his larger-than-life characters, and his own early death in a tavern brawl.

Marsden. Name of two generations of Eton masters: Hugh Kenyon (d. 1967), master 1911–1951, specialising in mathematics; his brother Reginald Edward (1879–1960) retired 1946 (Bursar 1942–1946); and the latter's son, Arthur John (1915–2004).

Marsh, Dame (Edith) Ngaio (1895–1982). New Zealand author and theatre director. One of the most famous of the Queens of Crime from the golden age of detective fiction, she published 32 crime novels between 1934 and 1982.

Marsh, Sir Edward ('Eddie') Howard (1872–1953). Civil servant and patron of the arts. Private Secretary to Winston Churchill at the Board of Trade (1908–1910), Home Office (1910–1911), Admiralty (1911–1915), Duchy of Lancaster (1915), Munitions (1917), War Office (1919–1921) Colonial Office (1921) and the Treasury (1924–1929). Did much to bring before the public the poetry of Rupert Brooke, W H Davies, Walter de la Mare, D H Lawrence, Siegfried Sassoon and Edmund Blunden.

Martineau, Richard Cator (d. 1984 aged 78). Eton classics master, 1928–1966; after his retirement, fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge. Produced a revised edition of Richard Arthur Austen Leigh's An Illustrated Guide to Eton College.

Martyn, Edward (1859–1923). Irish writer and political activist; first President of Sinn Féin. Cousin of George Moore and friend of W B Yeats. Together with Yeats and Lady Gregory founded the Irish Literary Theatre in 1899.

Masefield, John Edward (1878–1967). Poet Laureate, 1930–1967.

Mason, Alfred Edward Woodley (1865–1948). Novelist and Liberal MP. His best-known novels are The Four Feathers (1902) and Fire Over England (1936).

Mason, James (1909–1984). Actor. Appeared infrequently on stage, but made many films from 1935 onward, including Fanny by Gaslight The Seventh Veil; The Wicked Lady; Julius Caesar; A Star is Born; The Trials of Oscar Wilde; North by North-west; Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea; Lolita; Spring and Port Wine; The Boys from Brazil and The Shooting Party.

Mason, Kenneth (1887–1976). Geographer, mountaineer and don. Leading member of the Royal Geographic Society; editor of The Himalayan Journal, 1929–1945; Professor of Geography at Oxford, 1932–1953.

Masterman, Sir John Cecil (1891–1977). Historian. Provost of Worcester College, 1946–61; and Vice-chancellor of Oxford University 1957–1958. Important figure in military intelligence in World War II.

Matsys, Quentin (1466–1530). Flemish painter of genre paintings and religious works.

Matthews, Sir Stanley (1915–2000). Leading English football player.

Matthews, Walter Robert (1881–1973). Anglican priest. Dean of Exeter 1932–1934, and of St Paul's 1934–1962. His works include God in Christian Thought and Experience (1930), The Adventures of Gabriel in his Search for Mr Shaw (1933), The Purpose of God (1935), and Memories and Meanings (1969).

Maud, John Primatt Redcliffe (1906–1982). Baron Redcliffe-Maud. Civil servant and diplomat. Master of University College, Oxford, 1963–1976.

Maude, John Cyril. Laywer and politician. MP (C) Exeter, 1945–1951. Additional Judge, Mayor's and City of London Court, 1954–1965; Additional Judge, Central Criminal Court, 1965–1968.

Maugham, Mary Elizabeth ('Liza') (1915–1998). Somerset Maugham's daughter.

Maugham, William Somerset (1874–1965). Novelist and playwright.

Maurice, (John) Frederick Denison (1805–1872) Anglican priest and social reformer.

Maurois, André: pen name of Emile Salomon Wilhelm Herzog (1885–1967). French author and man of letters.

Maxse, Leopold James (1864–1932), journalist and political activist of strong imperialist and conservative views. Edited The National Review 1893–1929.

Maxton, James (1885–1946). Left-wing politician. Independent Labour Party MP, 1922–1946.

May, Olive, née Olive Mary Meatyard (d. 1947). Actress. Married (1913) Lord Victor Paget; (1922) the 10th Earl of Drogheda.

May, Peter Barker Howard (1929–1994). Cricketer. Batsman for Surrey (1951–1963) and England (1951–1961).

Mayne, Ethelind Frances Colburn (1865–1941). Irish novelist, translator and biographer. Early contributions (from 1895) to The Yellow Book. Later wrote a two-volume biography of Byron. The Oxford DNB says of her, 'A friend to Hugh Walpole, Violet Hunt, and Mary Butts, Mayne was clearly tolerant of their unconventional lifestyles'.

McAlmon, Robert Menzies (1896–1956). American author, poet and publisher.

McCallum, Ronald Buchanan (1898–1973). Historian. Master of Pembroke College, Oxford, 1955–1967; Principal of St Catharine's, Cumberland Lodge, Windsor Great Park, 1967–1971.

McDonald, Edgar Arthur ('Ted') (1891–1937). Cricketer, fast bowler. Played for Australia, 1920–1922, and for Lancashire, 1924–1931.

McInnes, Melville James (1915–1996). Australian cricketer and umpire. Stood in sixteen 16 Test matches between 1951 and 1959. The English press criticised him for bias in favour of Australian bowlers. A close friend of Donald Bradman.

McKenna, Stephen (1888–1967). Novelist.

McKenney, Ruth (1911–1972). American author. The historical novel to which RH D refers in his letter of 17 June 1956 was called Mirage. It was published in the USA in 1956. There was no British edition.

McLachlan, Laurentia Margaret (1866–1953). Abbess of Stanbrook and scholar. A leading authority on church music. Her long, mainly epistolary, friendship with Sydney Cockerell and Bernard Shaw was portrayed in The Best of Friends, a 1987 play by Hugh Whitemore.

McLaren, Moray David Shaw (1901–1971) Scottish writer. 

McLeish, Archibald (1892–1982). American poet, writer and the Librarian of Congress. Associated with the modernist school of poetry. Awarded the Pulitzer Prize three times.

McNeile, Archibald Magee (1878–1937). Eton master 1902–1933.

Mead, Charles Phillip ('Phil') (1887–1958). Cricketer. Hampshire and England between 1905 and 1936; l. h. bat.

Medley, Charles Douglas (1870–1963). Solicitor, of Field, Roscoe & Co of Lincoln's Inn.

Meilhac, Henri (1831–1897). French playwright and librettist. With his regular collaborator, Halévy, Ludovic, he wrote the libretti for Offenbach's La belle Hélène (1864), Barbe-bleue (1866), La Grande-duchesse de Gérolstein (1867), and La Périchole (1868), and for Bizet's Carmen (1875). Frou Frou was their only serious play to enjoy great success.

Melbourne: William Lamb (1779–1848), 2nd Viscount. Prime Minister, 1834 and 1835–1841.

Mellon, Andrew William (1855–1937). American banker, industrialist, philanthropist and art collector. Secretary of the US Treasury, 1921–1932.

Mencken, Henry Louis (1880–1956). American journalist, sometimes known as the 'Sage of Baltimore'. His book The American Language (1919) was an apologia for US English.

Meredith, George, (1828–1909). Novelist and poet. Novels include The Ordeal of Richard Feverel, 1859 and The Egoist, 1879. Poems include 'The Woods of Westermain', and 'The Lark Ascending', which inspired Vaughan Williams's orchestral piece of the same name.

Merrick, Leonard né Miller, 1864–1939. Author. Novels include Mr Bazalgette's Legacy (1888). A collected edition of his novels was published in twelve volumes 1918–19.

Merriman, Seton: pen name of Hugh Stowell Scott (1862–1903). Novelist. Published stories of colonial life between 1894 and 1903.

Meynell, Alice Christiana Gertrude, née Thompson (1847–1922) Poet, author, editor, critic, and suffragette. Mother of Viola Meynell.

Meynell, Viola Mary Gertrude (1886–1956). Novelist and biographer. Her novels follow in the Hardy tradition of emotional entanglements in the countryside.

Michael Angelo, now more usually written Michelangelo (1475–1564). Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet and engineer. The spelling used by GWL remained current until the 1960s, and was still sometimes used in papers including The Guardian into the 1980s.

Miller, Keith Ross (1919–2004). Australian cricketer, the outstanding all-rounder of his era. By the time of his retirement from test cricket in 1956, Miller had the best statistics of any all-rounder in cricket history.

Milne, Alan Alexander (1882–1956). Author of the Winnie-the-Pooh stories and Christopher Robin verses.

Milne, Christopher Robin (1920–1996). Son of A A Milne; a character named after him appears in the Winnie-the-Pooh books.

Milton, (Clement) Arthur (1928–2007). Cricketer, Gloucestershire and England (1958–1959).

Milton, Ernest (1890–1974). American-born actor. After WWI, resident in England. His last stage appearance was in 1967 at the Savoy.

Milton, John (1608–1674). Poet and roundhead apologist.

Mitchell, Richard Arthur Henry ('Mike') (1845–1905). Eton master and cricketer.

Mitford, Nancy (1904–1973). Writer. Publications include The Pursuit of Love, 1945; Love in a Cold Climate, 1949; The Blessing, 1951; Madame de Pompadour, 1953; Voltaire in Love, 1957; Don't Tell Alfred, 1960; The Water Beetle, 1962; The Sun King, 1966; Frederick the Great, 1970. Edited: The Ladies of Alderley, 1967; The Stanleys of Alderley, 1968; Noblesse Oblige, 1973. 

Mohammed (c. 570–632). Revered prophet of Islam.

Moiseiwitsch, Benno (1890–1963). Pianist, born in Odessa. Settled in England and took British citizenship. An outstanding player of Beethoven and of the late nineteenth century romantics.

Mold, Arthur Webb (1863–1921). Cricketer. Fast bowler for Lancashire (1889–1901) and England (1893). 

Molotoff, (or Molotov) Vyacheslav Mikhailovich, né Skryabin (1890–1986). Soviet politician and diplomat, protégé of Stalin. Dismissed by Nikita Khrushchev in 1957. Principal Soviet signatory of the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact of 1939 (the 'Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact'). The Molotov cocktail, the home-made petrol bomb, was named after him.

Moltke, Helmuth Karl Bernhard, Graf von (1800–1891). German soldier. Highly successful chief of staff of the Prussian army 1857–1888.

Monkhouse, Allan Noble (1858–1936). Playwright, critic, newspaper manager, essayist and novelist.

Monnier, Adrienne (1892–1955). French poet, bookseller and publisher and a figure in the French modernist writing set of the 1920s and 1930s.

Montagu of Beaulieu: Edward John Barrington Douglas-Scott-Montagu (1926–2015). 3rd Baron. Founded Montagu Motor Museum, 1952 and World's first Motor Cycle Museum, 1956.

Montagu, Lady Elizabeth (1917–2006). Novelist and translator. Her books included Waiting for Camilla (1953), The Small Corner (1955) This Side of the Truth (1957) and Change, and Other Stories (1966).

Montague, Charles Edward (1867–1928). Journalist, author. Known for his work, especially as theatre critic, in The Manchester Guardian, 1890–1914 and 1919–1925.

Montefiore, Sir Moses Haim (1784–1885). Leading British Jew of the 19th century; financier, stockbroker, philanthropist and Sheriff of London.

Montgomery, Bernard Law (1887–1976). Viscount Montgomery of Alamein. Commander of the British Eighth Army in North Africa during World War II. Chief of the Imperial General Staff, 1946.

Moore, George Augustus (1852–1933). Irish novelist.

Moore, George Edward (1873–1958) Philosopher. With Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein and others, one of the founders of the Analytic tradition in philosophy.

Moore, Henry Spencer (1898–1986). Sculptor.

Moore, Colonel Maurice (1854–1939). Soldier and politician. Brother of George Augustus Moore.

Moorehead, Alan (1910–1983). Journalist and author of popular histories.

More, Hannah (1745–1833). Religious writer and philanthropist. A member of the circle of the circle of Johnson, Reynolds and Garrick.

More, Sir Thomas (1478–1535). Lawyer, author, and politician. Lord Chancellor 1529–1532. Executed for refusing to abandon Roman Catholicism.

Morgan, Charles Langbridge (1894–1958). Novelist and journalist. The DNB observed that his work was never taken seriously among literary critics in Britain, but aroused some academic interest in France among critics as varied as Paul Valéry and François Mauriac. Publications include Portrait in a Mirror, 1929; The Fountain, 1932; Epitaph on George Moore, 1935; Sparkenbroke, 1936; The Flashing Stream (play), 1938. Married (1923) Hilda Campbell Vaughan (1892–1985), a Welsh author.

Morley, Edith Julia (1875–1964). Professor of English Language, University of Reading, 1908–1940. Publications include Hurd's Letters on Chivalry and Romance (1911); Women Workers in Seven Professions (1913); Correspondence of Crabb Robinson with the Wordsworth Circle (1927); Crabb Robinson in Germany (1929); The Life and Times of Henry Crabb Robinson (1935); Henry Crabb Robinson on Books and their Writers (1938).

Morley, Frederick (1850–1884). Cricketer. Fast bowler for Nottinghamshire (1871–1883) and England (1880–1883).

Morley, John (1838–1923). 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn. Liberal politician, writer and newspaper editor. Entered Parliament in 1883; Secretary for Ireland in 1886 and 1892–1895. Secretary for India 1905–1910, in which post he introduced some liberal reforms. Lord President of the Council 1910–1914, but resigned in protest against the declaration of war. Published biographies of Voltaire, Rousseau, Burke and Gladstone.

Morley, Robert Adolf Wilton (1908–1992). Actor, director and writer. 

Morpeth, Lady Georgiana, née Cavendish (1783–1858). Married George Howard, 6th Earl of Carlisle, whose courtesy title before succeeding to the earldom was Viscount Morpeth.

Morris, John (1895–1980). Mountaineer, soldier and BBC executive. On the 1922 and 1936 Everest expeditions as transport officer and interpreter. In Hired to Kill, Morris wrote candidly about confronting his homosexuality during his army career, which was eventually terminated by tuberculosis. Morris taught English in Japan 1938–41 and worked for BBC Radio as Director of the Far Eastern Service (1943–1952) and as Controller of the Third Programme (1952–1958).

Morrow, George (1869–1955). Illustrator. On the staff of Punch, 1924–1937. Art editor from 1932.

Mortimer, Raymond: pen name of Charles Raymond Mortimer Bell (1895–1980). Critic and literary editor. Literary editor of The New Statesman and subsequently a reviewer for The Sunday Times. 

Morton, John Cameron Andrieu Bingham Michael, ('Beachcomber') (1893–1975). The second author of the humorous column in The Daily Express, following D B Wyndham-Lewis. He wrote it from 1924–1975.

Mottistone, Henry John Alexander Seely (1899–1963). 2nd Baron. Architect, of Seely and Paget, among the leading mid–20th-century British architects, noted particularly for ecclesiastical work.

Mountbatten, Lord Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas George (1900–1979). 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma. Supreme Allied Commander of the South-east Asia, 1943–1946. Viceroy of India, 1947. First Sea Lord, 1955–1959. Chief of the Defence Staff, 1959–1965. Murdered by the Irish Republican Army, 1979 at the age of 79.

Muggeridge, Malcolm (1903–1990). Journalist and television presenter; editor of Punch, 1953–1957.

Muir, Percy H (1894–1979). Antiquarian bookseller. First president of the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (1948–1950).

Muldoon, Guy. In the 1940s a colonial agricultural officer stationed at Mwera Hill, Nysaland (now Malawi).

Mulholland, Olivia Vernon, née Harcourt (1902–1984). lady in waiting to the Queen Mother, as Woman of the Bedchamber, 1951–1961

Müller, (Friedrich) Max (1823–1900). German philosopher and philologist.

Munby, Alan Noel Latimer ('Tim') (1913–1974). Antiquarian book dealer with Bernard Quaritch Ltd, 1935–1937 and Sotheby & Co, 1937–1939. After distinguished war service, Librarian and Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, 1947–1974.

Munnings, Sir Alfred James (1878–1959). Painter. President of the Royal Academy, 1944–1949. Known for his paintings of horses and country life. He was an unswerving opponent of non-representational art, and his assertions that Matisse, Picasso and Henry Moore were incompetent exposed him to ridicule.

Murdoch, Dame (Jean) Iris (Dame Iris Bayley) (1919–1999). Novelist and philosopher. Books include Sartre, Romantic Rationalist (1953); Under the Net (1954); The Flight from the Enchanter (1955); The Sandcastle (1957); The Bell (1958); A Severed Head (1961); An Unofficial Rose (1962); The Red and the Green (1965); The Nice and The Good (1968); Bruno's Dream (1969); A Fairly Honourable Defeat (1970); The Black Prince (1973); The Sacred and Profane Love Machine (1974); A Word Child (1975); Henry and Cato (1976); The Fire and the Sun (1977); The Sea, the Sea (1978).

Mure, Geoffrey Reginald Gilchrist (1893–1979). Warden of Merton College, Oxford, 1947–1963. Publications include Aristotle (1932); Josephine, a Fairy Thriller (1937); The Boots and Josephine (1939); Introduction to Hegel (1940); A Study of Hegel's Logic (1950); Retreat from Truth (1958); The Philosophy of Hegel (1965).

Murray, (George) Gilbert Aimé (1866–1957). Regius Professor of Greek at Oxford 1908–1936. Noted translator of Greek plays. Publications include Rise of the Greek Epic, 1907; Euripides and his Age, 1913; and Foreign Policy of Sir Edward Grey, 1915.

Murray, John (1879–1964). Academic and Liberal politician. Member of Parliament for Leeds West, 1918–1923; Principal of the University College of the South West of England (later incorporated in Exeter University) 1926–1951.

Murry, John Middleton (1889–1957). Critic and editor. Editor, successively, of Rhythm, The Athenaeum, The Adelphi and The New Adelphi. Edited the journal (1927) and the letters (1928) of his late wife, Katherine Mansfield.

Myers, Frederic William Henry (1843–1901). Poet and mystic. Prose works include two volumes of Essays, Classical and Modern (1883) and a monograph on Wordsworth (1881) for John Morley's English Men of Letters. Father of L H Myers.

Myers, Leo(pold) Hamilton (1881–1944). Novelist. His The Root and the Flower, set in India at the time of Akbar, is his major work and won the 1935 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction. Son of F W H Myers.

Mynors, Sir Roger Aubrey Baskerville (1903–1989). Classicist and historian. Corpus Christi Professor of Latin Language and Literature, Oxford, 1953–1970. Publications: Cassiodori Senatoris Institutiones (1937); Durham Cathedral MSS before 1200 (1939); Catulli Carmina (1958); Catalogue of Balliol MSS (1963); Plinii Epistulae (1963); Panegyrici Latini (1964); Vergilii Opera (1969). Married 1945 Lavinia Sybil Alington.