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The Knox Brothers

Page 33

by Penelope Fitzgerald

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

 

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