One hundred and fifty years ago today, early in the morning, Clara Calderon (aged thirty-two) gave birth to George Leslie Calderon at 9 Marlborough Place, St John’s Wood. If not present at the actual birth, his father the Victorian painter Philip Hermogenes Calderon (aged thirty-five) could not have been far away, as he was able to draw the newborn George’s head and send the sketch to his mother-in-law that same morning. In Russian terms, the auspices of George’s birth were very good indeed: he seems to have been born wearing a ‘shirt’, i.e. part of his caul.
Long and detailed research suggests that 9 Marlborough Place no longer exists. The road has been renumbered at least twice since 1868 and it seems likely that George’s birthplace is where number 45 is today — a block of flats named Arabella Court:
The probable site of George Calderon’s birthplace today
However, our research threw up the very interesting fact that before George’s birth the Calderon family had been living at 16 Marlborough Place, i.e. the other side of the road. George’s brothers Frank and John had been born at number 16 in 1865 and 1867 respectively. All the old houses on that side still exist and many are listed. The best we can say is that the Victorian number 16 Marlborough Place may be number 50 today:
Possibly where the Calderon family lived up to 1868
After the one hundredth anniversary of George Calderon’s death at Gallipoli, I wrote a long tribute to his originality and achievement. All I can add now is that it is a rare privilege and honour to have been chosen, as it were, to write the first full-length biography of him, coinciding with the hundred and fiftieth anniversary of his birth. Every response I have had from readers expresses delight at discovering George’s rich life and personality. For many, the book has also been an initiation into the energy and complexity of Edwardian life.
This handsomely produced 544-page hardback limited edition was published on 7 September and is selling steadily. The first printed reviews are due soon and will be quoted below as they are published. Full details of how to obtain the book are here:
The biography is available online at the Sam&Sam site priced £30 plus postage. Alternatively, if you prefer to buy it by cheque, or wish to discuss discounts for multiple purchases, please contact the author at mail@patrickmiles.co.uk .
SOME RESPONSES RECEIVED SO FAR
‘The book is written with great assurance and the reader always feels in safe hands. I liked the idea of it being a story and I read it the same way I would read a novel.’ Harvey Pitcher, writer
‘It is a masterly synthesis of your own approach with scholarship and very judicious discussion of the evidence.’ Emeritus Professor Catherine Andreyev, historian
‘A monumental scholarly masterpiece that gives real insight into how the Edwardians viewed the world.’ Arch Tait, Translator of Natalya Rzhevskaya’s Memoirs of a Wartime Interpreter
‘You have, I believe, architected and written a monumental and original biography.’ John Pym, film critic
‘This is bound to remain the definitive account.’ Laurence Senelick, Fletcher Professor of Drama, Tufts University
A review by DAMIAN GRANT appears in the comments to Calderonia’s 7 September post.
A review by JOHN DEWEY appears on Amazon UK.
Related
Patrick Miles in his summer house, 11 December 2016
Captain of the 11
Unpublished watercolour by George Calderon, Tahiti 1906
K.N. Das Gupta and Margaret Mitchell in an Indian Dramatic Society production of The Maharani of Arakan, 1913?
Sir Richard Vincent Sutton c. 1913
Book sent to George Calderon in Russia by his mother, Christmas 1895.
A happy memory of Trinity College: undergraduates breakfast together in Downy V. Green, p. 77.
Monarch Butterfly Madeira
The entrance to Fort Brockhurst (picture from Britain’s Past)
George Calderon, 1912
Christmas 1901 Cartoon by George Calderon
George and Kittie Calderon 1905
Jean Ryckaert, May 1916.
Colonel Sir Walter Coote Hedley c. 1920
Michel and Vera Fokine in “Scheherazade”, 1914 (The Music And Theatre Library of Sweden, creative commons)
Basic form of the Calderon coat of arms
Frontis piece by Frank Calderon
Figure from Gauguin’s 1899 painting ‘Tahitian Women with Mango Blossoms’ (left); George Calderon’s pencil sketch ‘Manu’ (right)
George Calderon c.1901
The 150th anniversary of a very remarkable man
One hundred and fifty years ago today, early in the morning, Clara Calderon (aged thirty-two) gave birth to George Leslie Calderon at 9 Marlborough Place, St John’s Wood. If not present at the actual birth, his father the Victorian painter Philip Hermogenes Calderon (aged thirty-five) could not have been far away, as he was able to draw the newborn George’s head and send the sketch to his mother-in-law that same morning. In Russian terms, the auspices of George’s birth were very good indeed: he seems to have been born wearing a ‘shirt’, i.e. part of his caul.
Long and detailed research suggests that 9 Marlborough Place no longer exists. The road has been renumbered at least twice since 1868 and it seems likely that George’s birthplace is where number 45 is today — a block of flats named Arabella Court:
The probable site of George Calderon’s birthplace today
However, our research threw up the very interesting fact that before George’s birth the Calderon family had been living at 16 Marlborough Place, i.e. the other side of the road. George’s brothers Frank and John had been born at number 16 in 1865 and 1867 respectively. All the old houses on that side still exist and many are listed. The best we can say is that the Victorian number 16 Marlborough Place may be number 50 today:
Possibly where the Calderon family lived up to 1868
After the one hundredth anniversary of George Calderon’s death at Gallipoli, I wrote a long tribute to his originality and achievement. All I can add now is that it is a rare privilege and honour to have been chosen, as it were, to write the first full-length biography of him, coinciding with the hundred and fiftieth anniversary of his birth. Every response I have had from readers expresses delight at discovering George’s rich life and personality. For many, the book has also been an initiation into the energy and complexity of Edwardian life.
This handsomely produced 544-page hardback limited edition was published on 7 September and is selling steadily. The first printed reviews are due soon and will be quoted below as they are published. Full details of how to obtain the book are here:
The biography is available online at the Sam&Sam site priced £30 plus postage. Alternatively, if you prefer to buy it by cheque, or wish to discuss discounts for multiple purchases, please contact the author at mail@patrickmiles.co.uk .
SOME RESPONSES RECEIVED SO FAR
‘The book is written with great assurance and the reader always feels in safe hands. I liked the idea of it being a story and I read it the same way I would read a novel.’ Harvey Pitcher, writer
‘It is a masterly synthesis of your own approach with scholarship and very judicious discussion of the evidence.’ Emeritus Professor Catherine Andreyev, historian
‘A monumental scholarly masterpiece that gives real insight into how the Edwardians viewed the world.’ Arch Tait, Translator of Natalya Rzhevskaya’s Memoirs of a Wartime Interpreter
‘You have, I believe, architected and written a monumental and original biography.’ John Pym, film critic
‘This is bound to remain the definitive account.’ Laurence Senelick, Fletcher Professor of Drama, Tufts University
A review by DAMIAN GRANT appears in the comments to Calderonia’s 7 September post.
A review by JOHN DEWEY appears on Amazon UK.
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