further work on Herodas, strains eyesight, 81–82, 98–100, 114, 163–164
“Erm”, 60, 102, 114, 124
unused to young ladies, 102
not a success as tutor to Harold Macmillan, 109–110
cryptographer in Room 40 (1915), 126, 127–128, 134–136, 165
shares house with Frank Birch, 129, 162
rescues R.A.K., 129
breaks German C.-in-C.’s flag code, 136
“embarrassment of the bath”, 136
in love, 136
marriage (1920), buys Courn’s Wood House, uneasy landed proprietor, 160, 162–163, 186–187, 247, 249, 250
Herodas edition published (1922), 188
refuses professorship at Leeds, remains at F.O., 164
at work on Soviet diplomatic ciphers, 179
buys North Dean, 181
worried by religious leanings at King’s, 187–188
Loeb Herodas translation, 188
motor-bike accident, limp, 189
50th-birthday lunch, 191
begins writing Pentelopes, 193–194
starts work on Enigma, 195, 220, 222–224, 227, 231–233, 247
threatened by cancer, 220, 248–249
secret visit to Poland (1938), 227–228
at Bletchley (1939), 228–229, 247, 249, 250
his staff, recruitment of pretty girls, 230–231
finds the “way in” to the Enigma Variations, 231, 247
major operation, calmly prepares to die, 249
awarded C.M.G., 250
“is Ronnie still bothering God?” 250–251
death (Feb. 1943), 250–251
CHARACTERISTICS:
absent-minded, 61, 161, 229–232
argumentative, 55
athletic, 26, 164
belief in disbelief, 84, 250
bites clean through pipe, 83
brilliance, 55, 61, 128
Christianity, hostility to, 60–61
cricket, passion for, 191
“dismaying silences”, 192
disorganized, 55
drink, attitude to, 56
driver, disconcerting as, 189–190, 221
indirect approach to problems, 194–195
intimidating at times, 26, 227, 232
“music”, hostility to, 249
“nothing is impossible”, 17, 135, 250
“noxian”, 60
patience, inventor of new, 188
shy and helpless, 60, 102
strange mental processes, 61–62, 231–232, 247
tenderheartedness, 56
unable to explain himself, 129, 221, 231
untidy, 127, 232
“why do you say that?”, 190, 192
women, attitude to, 102, 230–231
WORKS:
Herodas and Choliambic Fragments of Hipponax and Cercidas, 188
The Limit, 67, 80, 124
“Some Floating Pebbles”, 98
Knox brothers
COLLECTIVE CHARACTERISTICS:
bath, inspiration in, 176
Bible, knowledge of, 60–61, 241
critical spirit, 28
Edwardian, 253–254
emotion at war with intellect, 17
family feeling, 41
fearlessness, 17
foreign travel, distrust of, 212
games, love of inventing rules for, 16–17
generosity, 166
honesty, 17
intellectual severity, 16, 39
love, need for, 111
pipe-smoking, 39, 43
poetry, love of, 41
rhyming, skill at, 70, 106
speaking ability, 146
temper, loss of, 28, 207, 232
tenderheartedness, 131
transport, passion for forms of: railways, 16
trams, 24, 43
bicycles, 37–38
motor-bikes, 164–165
understatement, tendency to, 253–254
Knox, Christina Frances Hicks (first wife of E.V.K.), 102, 103–104, 106–107, 112, 113, 117, 118, 137, 142, 144–145, 155, 160, 207–208
Knox, Christopher Maynard (elder son of A.D.K.), 163
Knox, Edmund Arbuthnott (father):
hard childhood, 6
cheerful character, 7–8
religious beliefs, 8
to St Paul’s (1857), 8
at Oxford, 9–10, 45
ordained (1870), 9–10
Merton Fellowship, 10–11, 15
in love, engaged, 11–12
married (1878), 15, 32–33
rector of Kibworth, 15
rector of Aston, 23–24
widower (1891), 25, 29–30
family out of control, 28–29
Bishop Suffragan of Coventry, 29
remarries (1895), 32–33
Bishop of Manchester, 52–53
worries over his sons, 130–131
Blackpool mission, 53
fight for Lancashire Church Schools, 63–64
“loses” his favourite son, R.A.K., 143–144
in retirement at Shortlands (1921), 147–148
battle over Book of Common Prayer, 148, 161
death (Jan. 1937), 208–209
Knox, Edmund George Valpy (eldest Knox brother):
born (1881), 15
early childhood, 15–21
not a pious child, 24
loneliness after mother’s death, 25–26
at Rugby, 34, 35–37
edits schoolroom paper, 38
a fisherman, 34, 155–156, 198, 263
at Oxford, 45–49
elegant but unsatisfactory, 47–48
to Rome, 67–68
determines to write, 68–75
first appearance in Punch, 68
schoolteaching, 68
to Fleet Street (1906), 69–70
early struggles, 70–73
on Pall Mall, 74–75
engaged, 107
early work for Punch, 104–106
as “Evoe”, 106, 159, 261
marriage (1912), 107
foresees war, 113
with Territorials, 113, 115
with Lincolns in Ireland, 116–118, 136–140
drafted overseas, 136–137
trench warfare, 137–138
wounded at Passchendaele, 139–140
demobilized and homeless, 144
at Ministry of Labour, 144
to Balcombe, Sussex, 157–160
parodies of the ’20s, 159
struggles with the motor-car, 159–160
on staff of Punch (1932), 159–160
to Hampstead, 160, 170–171
hard-working journalist, 171
editor of Punch (1932), 173–174, 199–207
early days, the great Hippo joke, 204
opposition to dictators, 205–206
to Regent’s Park, 207–208
death of Christina (1935), 207–208
second marriage (1937), 245
in the Blitz, 244–246
wartime editorship (1939–45), 244–247
“you’re paid to be funny”, 247
retirement, 259–260
“I live by my wits”, 261
grief at W.L.K.’s death, 263–264
Leslie Stephen lecture (1959), 263
“a survivor from a shipwreck”, 270
CHARACTERISTICS:
connoisseur of Englishness, 37
of fashion, 46, 84
courage, 17, 244
Edwardian, a natural, 245, 253
flair, 206
horses, love of, 17, 118
gentle, 159
good host, 160
impatience, 207
integrity, 204
poet at heart, 204
political sense, 204–205
pun-maker, 264
satirical spirit, 264
sensitive, 25, 149
shooting rats, skill at, 138
unusual business methods, 107
wild inspirat
ions, 106, 199, 203
wit, 160, 261
women, attitude to, 47, 75, 215
WORKS:
A Little Romance, 102
“The Author to His Brain”, 259–260
An Hour from Victoria, 157
“Hymn to the Dictators”, 219
“Mechanism of Satire”, 263
What Life Has Taught Me, 204
Knox, Ellen (aunt), 7, 183
Knox, Ellen Penelope French (mother), 146
meets her “fate” in Oxford, 11
marriage (1878), 15
at Kibworth, 15
her idealism, 23
at Aston, 23–25
illness and death (1892), 25–26
Knox, Emily (aunt), 10, 25, 29
Knox, Ethel (sister), 15, 16, 43, 147–148, 181, 209, 256
Knox, Ethel Mary Newton (“Mrs K.”; stepmother):
described, 30–31
marriage (1895), 32–33
tames family at St Philip’s, 32–34, 37
“Mothering Famous Men”, 148–149
death (1946), 255–256
Knox, Frances Reynolds (grandmother), 5, 6–7, 26–27
Knox, Frances Laetitia (“Aunt Fanny”), 50, 140, 261
Knox, Frederick (uncle), 7
Knox, George (grandfather), 4–5, 6, 9–10
Knox, George (great-grandfather), 3–4
Knox, George (uncle), 7
Knox, Laetitia Greenfield (great-grandmother), 4
Knox, Laetitia (of Prehen), 4
Knox, Lindsey (uncle), 6, 26, 27–28, 201, 208, 241
Knox, Mary Shepard (second wife of E.V.K.), 244, 246, 260
Knox, Olive Spencer Roddam (wife of A.D.K.), 163, 250
Knox, Oliver Arbuthnott (younger son of A.D.K.), 136, 160–161, 181, 250
Knox, Rawle (son of E.V.K.), 117
Knox, Ronald Arbuthnott (youngest Knox brother):
born (1888), 15, 23
childhood, 15–21
a devout child, 24
at Edmundthorpe, 26–28
at Summer Field, 34–35
precocity, 38, 39
happiness at Eton, 34–35, 43, 44–45, 78
trip to Germany, 51
attracted to Tractarianism, 52
leaves Eton, to Rome with brothers, 67–68
at Balliol, 67, 76
offered brilliant career, 77
“a romance”, 77–78
ordained as Anglo-Catholic priest (1912), 92
Chaplain of Trinity, 92, 94–95, 131
opposes modernism, 96–98
“a personal person”, early intense friendships, 108–110, 121–122
influence, 109
tutor to Harold Macmillan, 109–110
“stakes his soul”, 110
affection for Guy Lawrence, 110–111
teaches logic through card games, 113–114
master at Shrewsbury (1914), 119, 124
distressed by doubts, 121–123
and by Guy’s conversion, 121
and by loss of friends in war, 121–122
“The Parting of Friends”, 124
at Room 40 and M.I.D.7, 129, 140
painful disputes with father, 130–131
resigns from Trinity chaplaincy, 131
at Oratory, 133, 141, 195, 258–259
“numbed” by Guy’s death, 142
ordained as R.C. priest (1919), 143
“the wittiest young man in England”, 165
early essays, 165–166
dreams of congenial home, misfit at St Edmund’s, 167, 217
in disgrace over broadcast, 176–177
appointed to Oxford Chaplaincy, 177
makes ends meet with detective stories, 177, 182–183, 253
at the Old Palace (1926), 184–185, 211
Hon. Fellow of Trinity, 185
disappointments at Chaplaincy, 209–212
revived by Lady Acton’s friendship, 214–215, 217–218, 239, 240, 256, 265
leaves Chaplaincy, plans Bible translation, 215–218
moves to Aldenham (1939), 219
“Nine Years’ Hard” on Knox Version, early difficulties and discouragements, 239–244
at A.D.K.’s deathbed, 250–251
Knox Version, later difficulties, 252–255
N.T. authorized and published (1945), 252, 254
protest over Hiroshima, 255
low spirits, homeless again, 256
to Asquiths at Mells (1947), 257–258
sadness at W.L.K.’s death, 262
60th-birthday dinner, 264–265
completion of Knox Version, 265
to Africa (1954), 265–266
“proving God”, his last apologia, 266–267
cancer (1956), 267
last Mass in Mells Chapel, 267–268
Romanes lecture (1957), 268, 269
death (Aug. 1957), 270
CHARACTERISTICS:
authority, ideal of, 91, 97, 131
balance, sense of, 168
brilliance, 166, 168
“carriage folk”, attitude to, 77, 218
“doing the most difficult thing”, 171, 239
dressiness in early life, 93
and later shabbiness, 239
happy, affectionate nature, 33, 77
and later melancholy, 209–210
“hopeless romantic”, 218
mimicry, 42
modesty and politeness, 212
nostalgia for the past, 165, 209
“plans”, importance of, 240
power of prayer, 269
river, love of, 211
sympathy, need for feminine, 170
truthfulness, 17
unmusical, 154
unpopular causes, devotion to, 52, 212–213
unselfishness, 45, 166, 256
wit, 85, 165
wordmaster, 38, 241
WORKS:
“Absolute and Abitofhell”, 97
The Body in the Silo, 183
The Creed in Slow Motion, 242
Double Cross Purposes, 182, 215
The Footsteps at the Lock, 211
God and the Atom, 255
The Hidden Stream, 186
Let Dons Delight, 218–219
The Mass in Slow Motion, 242
On English Translation, 268
Signa Severa, 62
Some Loose Stones, 97–98
A Spiritual Aeneid, 51, 114, 120, 121, 140, 142, 266
Studies in the Literature of Sherlock Holmes, 95–96
The Three Taps, 183
The Viaduct Murder, 182
“The Whole Art of Chaplaincy”, 185–186, 210 See also Bible: Knox Version
Knox, Wilfred Lawrence (3rd Knox brother):
born (1886), 15
childhood, 15–21
at Edmundthorpe, 26–28
tells his only lie, 28
at Rugby, 34, 49
his “Bits of Old Churches”, 43, 53
influenced by Temple, 50–51
and by Socialist movement, 50–51
to Germany with R.A.K., 51
at Oxford, 63
loses and recovers his religious faith, 63
at Board of Education, 84–85
at Trinity Mission, Stratford, 88–90, 120
a Christian Socialist, 90–91
vows of celibacy and poverty, 92, 112
hopes to work side-by-side with R.A.K., 112
not allowed to serve with B.E.F. (1914), 118–119
ordination (1915), 112–113, 120
pain at loss of R.A.K., no reproaches, 124, 132
at M.I.D.7, 129–130
wants to reform “church of the rich”, 149–150
disappointment, 150
joins O.G.S. (1920), no longer lonely, 150–151, 153–154, 156–157, 234
parish priest in Hoxton (1922–24), 172
Xmases with E.V.K., 172–173, 261
sympathizes with General Strike, 178–179
&nb
sp; friendship with Dr Alec Vidler, 195–196
Canon of Ely, 196
on Committee for Christian Doctrine in 1930s, 196
scholarly work, 197–198
homeless (1939), 234
Superior of O.G.S., 234
wartime Chaplain of Pembroke, 234–235, 258
“black night of the soul”, 238–239
post-war chaplaincy, 258
“we need to be able to think of ourselves as nothing”, 259
cancer (1949), 261–262
death (Feb. 1950), 262
on eternal life, 262
CHARACTERISTICS:
astringency, 157
calm authority, 172, 198–199, 261
“deep love from a broken unloving man”, 235
dressiness in early life, 154
and later shabbiness, 155
eccentricity, abruptness, 153, 235–236
a great fisherman, 155–156
a great gardener, 155
“humble, witty, shrewd”, 155
humour, peculiar sense of, 49, 236, 238
influence with drunks and children, 172
and young people, 236–238
lie, total inability to, 17, 28
memory, amazing power of, 28
poverty, sympathy with, 50–51
power of prayer, 208, 262
practically inaudible, 195–196, 238
radical views, 149–150, 196, 258
saintly, 155
scholarly, 198
sociable, 150
strong-minded, 63, 196
WORKS:
At a Great Price Obtained I This Freedom, 149–150
Life of St. Paul, 258
Meditation and Mental Prayer, 156, 197
St. Paul and the Church of the Gentiles, 197, 237, 258
Sources of the Synoptic Gospels, 262–263
Knox, Winifred. See Peck, Lady
Labour Party, 90, 180, 258
Lady Margaret Hall (Oxford), 63
Lahore, 13–14
Lamacraft, W., 101
Lamb, Charles, 13
Lamb, Dorothy. See Brooke, Dorothy
Lamb, Henry, 64, 98, 101, 124, 170, 190
Lamb, Walter, 80, 81
Lambeth Conference, 161
Lancaster, Catholic Bishop of (Dr Flynn), 240
Langton, Stephen, 172, 196, 262
Lansbury, George (M.P.), 89, 90, 91
Lattey, Cuthbert, S.J., 217
Lawrence, Guy, 109, 110–111, 114, 119, 121, 132–133, 138, 141, 142, 162, 167, 168, 209–210
Lawrence, Henry and John (“of India”), 4
League of Nations, 157
Lear, Edward, 33
Leeds, University of, 164
Legge, “Pombo”, 88–89, 90
Leicestershire Regiment, 137
Leningrad, 179
Leominster, 156
Leon, Henry, 229
Leslie, Shane, 58
Liberty’s of London, 32, 44, 48
Life of Alexander, 188
Lincoln Cathedral, 107
Lincoln Chronicle, 107
Lincolnshire Regiment, 136–140
Lindisfarne, 18
Lister, Charles, 77, 85, 90, 119, 121, 162, 169
The Knox Brothers Page 33