RepositorySpecial Collections Archives (GB 0029)
Ref NoEUL MS 71
Date1969-1973
LevelCollection
Extent1 box containing 4 ring binders
TitleHenry Williamson: letters to Annabel Cash
DescriptionThe collection includes 116 letters and postcards to Anna Brook, nee Cash, and her parents, Cedric and Grace Cash. Fifty-six letters are addressed to Anna, and forty to her parents. The remainder are postcards which are addressed to either both Anna or her mother Grace.
Admin HistoryHenry Williamson (1890-1982), novelist, was born in south London and educated at Colfe's Grammar School, Lewisham. He fought in the army in the First World War and gained a deep sense of the futility of conflict as a result. He worked as a journalist for a short while before writing his first novel, 'The Beautiful Years', in 1921. This became volume one of a quartet, named 'The Flax of Dreams'. At the same time he moved to North Devon and, in 1927, wrote there 'Tarka the Otter', the book on which his fame most heavily rests, and 'A Patriot's Progress' (1930), based on his trench experiences. After 'Salar the Salmon' (1935) he became an outspoken supporter of German reform and British fascism, which led to his being briefly interned at the start of the war. His postwar work, which is arguably his most important, is a cycle of fifteen novels entitled, 'A Chronicle of Ancient Sunlight', which was completed in 1960.

He met Anna[bel] Cash in 1969, and wrote very frequently to her for the next year or so. Anna[bel] Cash became Anna Brook on her marriage in about 1973, later Anna Ellis upon remarrying, and Anna Cash (again) in 1996.
LanguageEnglish
Access StatusOpen
Related MaterialThe Henry Williamson Society Book Collection consisting of all published works of Williamson is also available for reference at Special Collections and is listed in full on the Library's online OPAC.

The following Williamson archive collections are held at Special Collections: EUL MS 43, 71,74, 78, 91, 106, 111, 126, 239, 282, 356, 374, 402.

Papers relating to Henry Williamson are also held at the following repositories: Dartmouth College Library, USA; Savage Club, London; Reading University Library; King's College London; Royal Society of Literature; and Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies.
Access ConditionsAccess only by written permission of the Henry Williamson Society. Please note that parts of the collection may be restricted subject to Data Protection legislation.
Finding_AidsListed. A handlist of letters according to date is inside the first (black) binder.
Creator_NameWilliamson; Henry (1890-1982); novelist
Mgt_GroupLiterary papers
Persons
CodePersonNameDates
DS/UK/48Williamson; Henry (1895-1977); writer1895-1977
DS/UK/188Cash; Annabel (fl 1969 - 1996); friend of Henry Williamsonfl 1969 - 1996
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