Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy (17 May 1933[1] – 16 July 2019) was a British author, known for biographies, including one of Alfred Kinsey, and books of social history on the British nanny and public school system.[2] For his autobiography, Half an Arch, he received the J. R. Ackerley Prize for Autobiography in 2005. He also wrote novels and children's literature.
Born in Edinburgh, he was brought up in London, and educated at Port Regis School,[3] Bryanston and Cambridge.[4] As a boy, he was one of Benjamin Britten's favourites and he and his family provided the names for the characters in The Little Sweep. His involvement with Britten is described in John Bridcut's Britten's Children.
He subsequently worked in advertising and publishing.
His grandfather was Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 3rd Earl of Cranbrook. His father was Surg.-Cmdr. Hon. Antony Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, fourth child of the 3rd Earl. His mother was Ruth Elizabeth Thorowgood. Edward Gathorne-Hardy and Robert Gathorne-Hardy were his uncles, and his aunt was Lady Anne Hill, wife of George Heywood Hill, owner of the Heywood Hill bookshop in Mayfair.[5][6]
He died at his home in Aldeburgh on 16 July 2019 at the age of 86.[7]
Works
- Chameleon (1967)
- The Office (1970)
- The Rise and Fall of the British Nanny (1972) as The Unnatural History of the Nanny (US)
- Jane's Adventures In and Out of the Book (1966)
- Jane's Adventures on the Island of Peeg (1972)
- Jane's Adventures In A Balloon (1975)
- The Airship Ladyship Adventure (1975)
- The Public School Phenomenon, 597–1977 (1977) as Old School Tie – Phenomenon of English Public School (US)
- Cyril Bonhamy vs Madam Big (1981)
- Love, Sex, Marriage and Divorce (1981)
- Cyril Bonhamy and the Great Drain Robbery (1983)
- Doctors: The Lives and Work of GPs (1984) (non-fiction)
- The Centre Of The Universe Is 18 Baedekerstrasse (1985)
- Cyril Bonhamy and Operation Ping (1985)
- The City Beneath The Skin (1986)
- Cyril Of The Apes (1987)
- The Munros' New House (1987)
- The Interior Castle: A Life of Gerald Brenan (1994)
- Particle Theory (1996)
- Bookseller's War, Heywood and Anne Hill (1997) (letters, editor)
- Alfred C. Kinsey. Sex the Measure of All Things. A Biography (1998)
- Half An Arch (2004) (autobiography)
- The Sultan's Organ (2017)
References
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy". Laura Cecil (author's agent). Retrieved 20 March 2010.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|month=(help) - ^ Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy, Half an Arch: a memoir (2004), pp. 55-56
- ^ "Jonathan Gathorne Garthorne-Hardy". The Peerage.com. Retrieved 20 March 2010.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|month=(help) - ^ Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 2003, vol. 1, p. 942
- ^ "Lady Anne Hill". The Independent. 31 January 2007.
- ^ Gathorne-Hardy
External links