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ROBERT WILLIAMS BUCHANAN (1841-1901)

ROBERT BUCHANAN TIMELINE

4: 1895 -

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1895

January 1895

The Charlatan (a novelisation of Buchanan’s play, written in collaboration with Henry Murray) published by Chatto & Windus.
An advert in The Times (9 February) states that the first edition has sold out and the book has now been reprinted.

April 5 1895

Arrest of Oscar Wilde at the Cadogan Hotel.

April 16 1895

Buchanan writes to The Star in support of Oscar Wilde:
“I for one wish to put on record my protest against the cowardice and cruelty of Englishmen towards one who was, until recently, recognised as a legitimate contributor to our amusement, and who is, when all is said and done, a scholar and a man of letters.”

April 18 1895

An item in the ‘Chit Chat’ column of The Stage states:
“Miss Brown is the striking title of a new farcical comedy by Robert Buchanan and Henry Murray. The intention of the authors is to exploit it themselves in London.”

One presumes that this is a simple mistake since the play (renamed The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown) was later credited to Buchanan and ‘Charles Marlowe’. Henry Murray, in his 1909 autobiography, A Stepson of Fortune, states the following:
“The only joint work bearing our joint names we ever issued were the novelised version of his Haymarket play, The Charlatan, and the comedy, A Society Butterfly”.

April 20 1895

Buchanan’s second letter to The Star in support of Oscar Wilde (after replies from Lord Queensberry and Alfred Douglas).

Buchanan, a committed smoker, includes the following plea in this letter:
“Why should he be denied the sedative of the harmless cigarette, more than ever necessary to a smoker in times of great mental anxiety?”

April 23 1895

Buchanan’s third letter to The Star:
“Whatever he is, whatever he may be assumed to be, he is a man of letters, a brother artist, and no criminal prosecution whatever will be able to erase his name from the records of English literature. That I say advisedly, though we are far as the poles asunder in every artistic instinct of our lives, and though on more than one occasion I have ridiculed some of his opinions.”

April 24 1895

Buchanan’s final letter to The Star:
“While we have a whole mob of savages clamoring ... for lynch-law and retribution, we have not one Christian clergyman to utter a sound.”

14 May 1895

Harriett Jay declared bankrupt. Although not reported at length, unlike Buchanan’s bankruptcy, the news was reported in The Scotsman and, perhaps inevitably, The New York Times. The report in The Scotsman (15 May) reads as follows:
“A summary was issued in London yesterday under the failure of Harriet Jay, the actress, whose present address is unknown. She returns her debts at £385, and attributes her insolvency entirely to her liability in respect of a bill accepted for the accommodation of her brother-in-law, Mr Robert Buchanan, that representing her only stated debt. The debtor further asserts she has no property or assets, and that her income since 1890 has been very small.”
The lack of an address indicates at least that Buchanan and Jay had by now left 25, Maresfield Gardens.

13 June 1895

Harriett Jay has a meeting with the Official Receiver. According to the report in The Times:
“Her insolvency was attributable to a liability of £380 on a bill which she accepted about four years ago for the accommodation of her brother-in-law, Mr. Robert Buchanan. She never expected to be asked to meet the bill. Some furniture of which she was possessed had been sold by the landlord in respect of rent due from Mr. Buchanan.” She also states “that she became obliged to discontinue acting owing to an accident.”

26 June 1895

The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown (written in collaboration with ‘Charles Marlowe’) produced at the Vaudeville Theatre.
This is the first of Harriett Jay’s collaborations with Buchanan where she uses the ‘Charles Marlowe’ pseudonym. The name is taken from the male guise she adopted on stage in her last collaboration with Buchanan, Fascination. The item in The Stage from 18 April, attributing the play to Buchanan and Henry Murray, is presumably a mistake. As is the speculation that Buchanan was also going to produce the play himself. In fact, the play is produced by Frederick Kerr, who also stars as ‘Miss Brown’.

The play is advertised as Miss Brown in The Times on 7 June and no authors are mentioned. On 10 June, the title has been changed to The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown and the authors are given as Robert Buchanan and Charles Marlowe. Jay states in the biography that she co-wrote the play but offers no explanation as to the use of the pseudonym. Perhaps she wanted to avoid having her contribution ignored (as had happened earlier with the critics of The New York Times), or perhaps there was some confusion over the authorship in regard to Henry Murray, or, perhaps most obviously, she wanted to divorce the play from any embarrassment caused by news of her bankruptcy.

28 August 1895

Notice in The Times in the Bankruptcy section of the Law reports:
“Jay, Harriet, late Maresfield-gardens, South Hampstead, N.W.—discharge granted conditionally.

7 October 1895

The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown transfers to Terry’s Theatre.

November 1895

Diana’s Hunting published by T. Fisher Unwin.
Reviewed in The Times (5 November).

Lady Kilpatrick published by Chatto & Windus.
Reviewed in The Times (5 November).

There is some doubt as to whether Buchanan actually wrote Lady Kilpatrick, although it is based on one of his plays. According to Andrew Nash of the University of Reading, there is a letter to Chatto & Windus in which Buchanan denies writing the novelisation but agreeing to it being published under his name.

2 December 1895

The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown is produced at the Standard Theatre, New York.

1896

February 1896

Buchanan becomes his own publisher.

Is Barabbas a necessity? A discourse on publishers and publishing published by Robert Buchanan.
Listed in ‘Publications To-day’ in The Times (29 February).

Presumably the success of The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown and the succession of novels provided the finance for this venture.

8 February 1896

Final performance of The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown at Terry’s Theatre.

19 February 1896

The New Don Quixote receives a copyright performance at the Royalty Theatre, London.

This information comes from The Drama of Yesterday and To-day (Vol. II) by Clement Scott. As far as I know the play was never performed after this.

26 February 1896

The Romance of the Shopwalker (written in collaboration with ’Charles Marlowe’) produced at the Vaudeville Theatre, starring Weedon Grossmith.

In an item in The Stage (6 February) the identity of Charles Marlowe is revealed:
“The Romance of a Shopwalker has been written by Robert Buchanan and “Charles Marlowe,” the latter nom de guerre standing, I think, for clever Miss Harriett Jay.”
The same item also includes a mention of another play of Buchanan’s - Good Old Times. This was the play which was also known as In Days of Old and which, several years after Buchanan’s death, became perhaps his greatest popular success under the title, When Knights Were Bold. The success was anonymous however since by then the only writer’s credit on the play was ‘Charles Marlowe’.

March 1896

The Devil’s Case published by Robert Buchanan.
Reviewed, unfavourably, in The Scotsman (9 March):
“The work is a piece of perverted sentiment which poses as imagination, and seeks to cheapen the great creations of Milton and Goethe.”

A Marriage by Capture published by T. Fisher Unwin.
Reviewed in The Scotsman (23 March).

28 March 1896

Final performance of The Romance of the Shopwalker at the Vaudeville Theatre.

April 1896

Effie Hetherington published by T. Fisher Unwin.
Advertised in The Times (24 April).

8 June 1896

The Wanderer from Venus; or Twenty-four Hours with an Angel (written in collaboration with ’Charles Marlowe’) produced at the Grand Theatre, Croydon. Harriett Jay appears on the opening night as a last-minute replacement for Miss Vera Beringer.
George Bernard Shaw in his review of the play writes:
“The play is a variation on the Pygmalion and Galatea theme. It is full of commonplace ready-made phrases to which Mr. Buchanan could easily have given distinction and felicity if he were not absolutely the laziest and most perfunctory workman in the entire universe, save only when he is writing letters to the papers, rehabilitating Satan, or committing literary assault and battery on somebody whose works he has not read.”

October 1896

Squire Kate revived by Georgia Cayvan (in a revised version) at Palmer’s Theatre, New York.

1897

1897

The Ballad of Mary the Mother: a Christmas carol (and other poems) published by Robert Buchanan.
I have been unable to find either reviews or adverts for The Ballad of Mary the Mother, and since it is subtitled “a Christmas carol” I presume it was either issued at the end of 1896 or in December, 1897.
A tipped-in ‘Special Notice’ reads:
“It has been decied, for obvious reasons, not to forward copies of this book to the Press for review. Editors who desire to notice the work, however, can procure copies by written application to the Publisher, 36, Gerrard Street, Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W.”
The book also contains the usual publisher’s advert in which Buchanan lists the following as “Works Written and Published by Robert Buchanan”:
1. The Devil’s Case
2. The City of Dream
3. Poetical Works of Robert Buchanan
4. Selected Poems
5. The Earthquake
6. Is Barabbas a Necessity?
7. London Poems: Old and New
8. The Wandering Jew
9. The Poems of Robert Buchanan
10. The Outcast
11. St. Abe and His Seven Wives
12. Poetical Plays
Of these 12 titles, only the pamphlet, Is Barabbas a Necessity?, and The Devil’s Case, The Outcast and St. Abe and His Seven Wives seem to have been printed.

February 1897

A novelisation of The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown by Harriett Jay is published by Robert Buchanan.
Reviewed in The Scotsman (8 February).

8 February 1897

Revival of Sweet Nancy at the Court Theatre, London, starring Annie Hughes.

1 March 1897

The Mariners of England produced at the Grand Theatre, Nottingham for one week prior to its appearance in London.

9 March 1897

The Mariners of England produced at the Olympic Theatre, London.

2 April 1897

Final performance of The Mariners of England at the Olympic Theatre.

7 June 1897

A Sailor and his Lass revived at the Novelty Theatre, London.

A Man’s Shadow revived at the Matinee Theatre, London.

10 October 1897

A letter to the actor, Harold Kyrle Bellew, has the address:
Ridgebourne, 55 Christchurch Road, Streatham Hill, London S.W.

27 November 1897

A Man’s Shadow revived at Her Majesty’s Theatre, London, with Herbert Beerbohm Tree reprising his dual role.

1898

January 1898

Buchanan publishes St. Abe and His Seven Wives.
Mentioned in The Times, ‘Publications To-day’ (14 January).

15 January 1898

Final performance of A Man’s Shadow at Her Majesty’s Theatre.

February 1898

Buchanan supplies a preface for The Truth about the Game Laws: a record of cruelty, selfishness, and oppression by J. Connell, published by W. Reeves for the Humanitarian League.
Reviewed in The Guardian (8 February).

March 1898

The Rev. Annabel Lee: a tale of to-morrow published by C. Arthur Pearson, Ltd.
Reviewed in The Scotsman (24 March).

20 June 1898

J. F. Elliston’s production of Alone in London begins its twelfth year of touring the provinces at the Theatre Royal,  Hanley.

October 1898

Father Anthony published by John Long.
Advertised in The Times (26 October).

21 November 1898

Two Little Maids from School (an adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ Les Demoiselles de St. Cyr, written in collaboration with Harriett Jay) is produced at the Metropole Theatre, Camberwell. Buchanan directs and finances the production himself and hires the Metropole for one week, with the intention of taking the play to the West End in the following spring.

An extract from Buchanan’s diary at this time gives an idea of his frame of mind:
“During the last few weeks I have felt particularly well, better than I have done for months. I was able to attend all the rehearsals of ‘Two Little Maids,’ which were more than usually arduous, without experiencing much fatigue. Intellectually, too, I feel stronger, more fitted for the work I want and mean to do, if I can keep in tolerably good form.”
(Jay, Chapter XXIX).

December 1898

The New Rome: poems and ballads of our empire published by Walter Scott, Ltd.
Reviewed in The Scotsman (7 December):
“Beside the thunders of the rhythmic indignation of the Roman, these smaller utterances sound like the ingeniously-contrived bleatings of a toy lamb; and, when a book takes up such a thesis as the vices and follies of the contemporary age, serious men want sterner stuff than this.”
Buchanan’s final book of poetry. The last poem in the book is ‘I End As I Began’.

Buchanan had obviously stopped operating as his own publisher by this point.

1899

1899

Thomas B. Mosher of Portland, Maine, reprints Swinburne’s 1872 attack on Buchanan, Under the Microscope. The edition also includes Buchanan’s ‘The Session of the Poets’, ‘The Monkey and the Microscope’ and a section entitled ‘Buchanan’s Apologia.’

5 January 1899

Buchanan suffers an angina attack.

February 1899

On the advice of his doctors Buchanan moves down to Brighton and stays there for a fortnight. On his return to Clapham he contracts influenza, followed by double pneumonia.

In a letter to Dr. Harry Campbell from Brighton (quoted in Jay), Buchanan writes the following about The New Rome:
“Your remarks about the ‘New Rome’ are very kind. The book has been more or less boycotted, owing to its non-patriotic character. Depend upon it, it is a mistake to have any ideas of one’s own on any possible subject. The only way to thrive is to shout with the crowd, and alas! I can’t do it. I maun ‘gang my ain gait,’ and be content with the esteem of the fit and few.”

Following his recovery from pneumonia Jay writes the following:
“As this last attack passed off I noticed a great change in him. A restlessness had seized him, he could not settle for any time either to read or write. His pulse was constantly intermittent, and was never lower than ninety.”

6 March 1899

Buchanan applies to the Royal Literary Fund and receives a grant of £150. The application is supported by W.E.H. Lecky.

24 April 1899

Revival of The English Rose at the Pavilion Theatre, London.

June 1899

Buchanan and Jay rent a furnished house in Pevensey Bay, a seaside resort in East Sussex. The first house proving unsuitable, they find another one and remain in Pevensey Bay until October. Jay writes the following about this period:
“We had a succession of visitors, and only a few hundred yards from our front door stood the house occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Walter Slaughter, both jovial and most delightful companions. They, too, had their visitors, and we formed a little colony in ourselves. We all cycled, we all played cricket, we all enjoyed to the full the sunny blue skies and the rippling waves of the sea, and it seemed to me that Mr. Buchanan was laying in a stock of health which would last him for many years.”

6 July 1899

From The Stage:
“Robert Buchanan and Charles Marlowe are at work on a new play for Mrs. Langtry—of the Marie Antoinette period.”

This was The Diamond Necklace (aka The Queen’s Necklace).

October 1899

In the second week of October Buchanan returns to London. He investigates a potential cure of heart disease by means of the baths at Bad Nauheim in Germany but discovers the same treatment can be administered at home. He decides to go to Hastings for a course of treatment.

December 1899

‘The Voice of “The Hooligan”’, Buchanan’s attack on Kipling, is published in the December issue of The Contemporary Review.

Buchanan goes to Hastings for the Nauheim Baths treatment. According to Jay:
“after the second bath the patient was prostrated by a severe stomach attack, and so for a time they were discontinued, and he took to his bed, passing his Christmas Day in the endurance of much pain.”
Buchanan writes an article for the Sunday Special entitled ‘The End of the Century’ (quoted in its entirety in Jay).

In the article Buchanan refers to another article he had written for the paper “a few days ago”.

1900

January 1900

Sir Walter Besant’s reply to Buchanan’s attack on Kipling, ‘Is It the Voice of the Hooligan?’, is published in the January issue of The Contemporary Review.

Buchanan continues with the Nauheim treatment, which does not work and his health steadily declines. At some point between January and March he returns to London.

February 1900

Buchanan’s response to Sir Walter Besant, ‘The Ethics of Criticism’, is published in the February issue of The Contemporary Review.

March 1900

Andromeda: an idyll of the Great River published by Chatto & Windus.
Reviewed in The Guardian (21 March).

16 March 1900

Writes to Dr. Stodart-Walker:
“Since I wrote to you I have been suffering infinite torments. I went to Hastings to try some Nauheim baths, and they did me more harm than good, and since then I have had a series of illnesses with much pain. I had to use morphia and it upset my nervous system terribly. Just now I am trying vainly to conquer the nightly pain without resorting again to the infernal drug.
     My only prayer is that I may live for a year or two and complete certain work. I am miserable too, because if I go now my dear and only companion will be left penniless, at the mercy of the world. With a very little more time I can alter that.”
(Jay, Chapter XXX.)

26 March 1900

Squire Kate revived at the Murray Hill Theatre, New York.

16 April 1900

Revival of The Trumpet Call at the Princess of Wales’s Theatre, London.

May 1900

‘The Peacocks’ Feathers’, a short story, is published in The Sphere.

Spring/Summer 1900

Buchanan’s mood improves (after changing doctors and cutting down on the morphine) and he takes a house in Deal, Kent.

July 1900

Buchanan returns to London for a fortnight, then rents a house at Cap Gris-nez in northern France for a month. According to Jay:
“Mr. Buchanan elected to live the life of a recluse, his sole recreation being short cycle rides which we took together, while in the evenings he would sit in the flower garden in front of the villa and smoke his cigarette and chat with Monsieur Ducloy or play a game of chess with Monsieur Paul. He had brought with him boxes full of books and papers, but he could not settle his thoughts sufficiently to be able either to read or write. Our occupation of the villa lasted only four weeks, and during that time we had a visit from Dr. Gorham, who was so alarmed at the state of mind in which he found his patient that he urged him at once to take up his work again.”

9 August 1900

From The Stage:
“Mrs. Langtry has “copyrighted” at the Library of Congress, in Washington, U.S.A., her new play, The Diamond Necklace, written by Robert Buchanan and Charles Marlowe.”

25th August 1900

Buchanan and Jay return to England. On his arrival in London Buchanan writes to Dr. Gorham:
“We stopped last night at Folkestone, and I hate, HATE, HATE everything English after the earwigs and Rosalie! I don’t purpose remaining here many days, but I shall look you up and curse you for luring me from France.”

Rosalie was the cook at the Villa Gris-nez.

September 1900

Early in September they move to Boscombe, near Bournemouth.
Buchanan continues cycling and also, according to Jay:
“he returned to his work, writing chiefly at his poetry.” Buchanan’s health and his mood improves.

Buchanan was not impressed by Bournemouth:
I don’t think I shall ever care for Bournemouth” (he wrote); “it is too noisy and suburban, full of fly-blown lodging-houses and streets disinfected by the water-cart. No, it won’t do—and I wonder what led people to recommend it.”
(Letter to Dr. Gorham, quoted in Jay.)

8 October 1900

Moves back to London and takes rooms at 9, Duchess Street Portland Place.

17 October 1900

Buchanan goes to the Avenue Theatre for a performance of A Messenger from Mars.

18 October 1900

Buchanan complains of a problem with his vision while reading the evening paper, but passes it off as unimportant.

19 October 1900

“The next morning, Friday, October 19th, his high spirits had not deserted him, for I heard him whistling merrily before he came in to breakfast. I asked him if the muddled vision had troubled him again, and he replied in the negative, assuring me that he felt particularly well in every way. Breakfast over and the morning papers read, we set off on our bicycles together.
     After a ride in Regent’s Park, which lasted close upon two hours, we returned home. He partook of a hearty lunch, and then fell asleep in an easy chair beside the fire. He awoke refreshed, and after he had drunk a cup of tea and had written some half-dozen letters, proposed that we should cycle again. “I should like to have a good spin down Regent Street,” he said. Those were the last words he ever spoke, for five minutes later the cruel stroke had descended upon him which rendered him helpless as a little child.”
(Jay, Chapter XXX.)

21 October 1900

From The Observer:
“We regret to hear that Mr. Robert Buchanan, the well-known poet, novelist, and dramatist, is seriously ill. He was seized with apoplexy at his London residence at five o’clock on Friday afternoon, which has resulted in paralysis of the right side and complete loss of speech. Under the care of Sir William Broadbent, Mr. Buchanan was last night reported to be holding his own as well as could possibly be expected under the sad circumstances. He is fifty-nine years of age.”

30 October 1900

From The Times:
‘The subjoined bulletin was issued yesterday with reference to the serious illness of Mr. Robert Buchanan:—“Mr. Robert Buchanan’s condition still remains critical. The paralysis shows no sign of abatement, and there is no improvement towards a return to consciousness. He is unable to utter more than ‘Yes’ and ‘No.’”’

1 November 1900

Buchanan is moved by ambulance to Streatham.

Presumably 90 Lewin Road, Buchanan’s address in the 1901 census return.

7 November 1900

From The Scotsman:
‘The following bulletin was issued last evening regarding the condition of Mr Robert Buchanan:—“Mr Buchanan had a good night, and has taken nourishment, but the paralytic symptoms still remain. There is little hope that he will ever recover his speech.—Harry Campbell, J. J. Gorham.”’

As Buchanan lingered on, the regular reports of his condition gradually disappeared from the newspapers.

19 November 1900

A Man’s Shadow at the Britannia Theatre, Hoxton.

21 November 1900

Another application is made to the Royal Literary Fund on Buchanan’s behalf. His application is supported by John Coleman and J. M. Barrie and he receives a grant of £150.

18 December 1900

William L. Alden, writes in his ‘London Literary Letter’ published in The New York Times 29 January:
“Mr. Robert Buchanan is still alive, and at times he is said to be somewhat better. There is, however, no longer the slightest ground for hope that he will recover. How long he may linger in the state of living death in which he lies no one can foretell, but even his most sanguine friends now admit that he is little more than a living corpse. It is a sad fate to overtake a man who was so full of life. He had made mistakes like all the rest of us, but they will be forgotten, and men will remember only the noble qualities which were incontestibly his.”

1901

31 March 1901

The date of the 1901 census. Buchanan is now living at 90, Lewin Road, Streatham, London. The only indication of his medical condition is the presence of Eliza Dear whose profession is given as Sick Nurse. She is also listed as Buchanan’s sister-in-law and her birthplace is given as Grays, Essex. Presumably this is Harriett Jay’s elder sister, Elizabeth - although according to the 1861 census return for the Jay household, Elizabeth was only three years older than Harriett, which would make her 50 not 58. However Harriett Jay gives her own age as 38, whereas in  fact she is now 47. (In the 1891 census she gave her age as 36.) Another mistake is Buchanan’s birthplace which is given as Caverswall, Lancashire (which Jay repeats in her biography).

[click here for a copy of the 1901 census]

April 1901

Robert Buchanan. The Poet of Modern Revolt. An Introduction to His Poetry by Archibald Stodart-Walker, published by Grant Richards.
Reviewed in The Scotsman (1 April).

16 April 1901

From The Guardian:
“Mr. Robert Buchanan, whose illness a few months back aroused widespread interest, is still lying in a half-helpless condition; and it is now announced (says the “Westminster Gazette”) that his devoted attendant, his sister-in-law, Miss Harriet Jay, the well-known authoress and actress, is confined to bed with an attack of pneumonia supervening on influenza.”

22 April 1901

A Royal Necklace by Pierre and Claude Berton is produced at the Imperial Theatre, London by Lillie Langtry.

I have been unable to ascertain the connection between this production and the Buchanan/Marlowe play on the same subject referred to in the item in The Stage of 6th July, 1899.

10 June 1901

Robert Buchanan dies on the morning of Monday, 10 June, 1901, at 90, Lewin Road, Streatham. The immediate cause of death is congestion of the lungs. He was 59 years old.

14 June 1901

Robert Buchanan is buried beside his wife and his mother in the churchyard of St. John the Baptist in Southend-on-Sea. The Times carried this brief report of the funeral:
“The funeral of Mr. Robert Buchanan took place yesterday at Southend-on-Sea, and by the expressed desire of the family it was strictly private. Among those present were Mrs. Bassett, Miss Harriett Jay, Miss Berardi, Mr. Henry Murray, Mr. Pelham Walmsley, Dr. Stoddard Walker, Mr. Beerbohm Tree, Mr. Kenneth Campbell, and Dr. Gorham. Mr. J. L. Toole, among others, sent a wreath.”

18 June 1901

A receiving order is made against the estate of the late Robert Buchanan.

29 June 1901

From The Scotsman:
“In October last, when Robert Buchanan was suddenly stricken down by a paralysis from which he never recovered, his personal friends and admirers subscribed a fund for his relief. It served an admirable purpose by soothing and, as far as possible, making comfortable the last hours of the novelist. The end came so quickly that the money was not fully expended. After paying all expenses, including the cost of the funeral, there remains a balance of over £150. It is intended, in pursuance of what is recognised as comfortable with Buchanan’s wishes in the matter, that this shall be handed over to his adopted daughter, Miss Harriett Jay, who nursed him through his long illness.”

6 July 1901

A report in The Times from the bankruptcy court:
“(Sittings in Bankruptcy, before MR. E. LEADAM HOUGH, Senior Official Receiver.)

IN RE BUCHANAN.

This was the first meeting of creditors under a receiving order made on June 18 against Robert Buchanan, deceased, the well-known author and dramatist. The proceedings were founded on a petition presented by a creditor, who claimed £65 8s. 5d. in respect of moneys advanced.
     The Chairman said he was informed that the debtor possessed no assets, and it was probably within the knowledge of the creditors that he was adjudged bankrupt some years ago. In the course of those proceedings an order was made that he should set aside any income in excess of £900, but the order was unproductive.
     No resolution being passed, the matter remained in the hands of the Official Receiver.”

August 1901

An appeal is launched to fund a public memorial to Robert Buchanan in Southend. Letters are sent to the Press signed by the Rev. Thomas Varney of St. John’s Parish Church, Southend-on-Sea and the writer (and Southend resident) Mr. Coulson Kernahan. The Mayor of Southend (Mr. J. Francis) was to act as treasurer and the letter (published in The New York Times 31 August) concluded:
“We should like to add that this letter has the approval of Mr. Buchanan’s relatives, who hope, however, that the response will be marked, not by the extent of the amount subscribed, but by the number of subscribers. They venture to suggest, therefore, that subscriptions be limited to a comparatively small sum, so that Mr. Buchanan’s humble admirers (of whom there are many) may not hesitate to contribute their mite.”

October 1901

The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Buchanan (in 2 volumes) published by Chatto & Windus.
Advertised in The Times (18 October).

Volume 1 is identical to the 1884 edition of The Poetical Works of Robert Buchanan.

September 1901

Robert Buchanan. A Critical Appreciation, and other essays by Henry Murray, published by Philip Wellby.
Reviewed in The Times (5 September).

23 September 1901

The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown is revived at the Court Theatre, London.

1902

1902

The Peep O’ day boy: a Romance of ’98 published by John Dicks.

I have also seen this dated as 1898 and have not been able to confirm through adverts or reviews.

8 April 1902

A previously unperformed one-act play by Robert Buchanan, The Night Watch, is presented by the Southend Dramatic Society at the Empire Theatre, Southend, in aid of the Buchanan Memorial Fund. The performance is repeated the following night.

26 April 1902

Another appeal for the Buchanan Memorial Fund is printed in The New York Times. The name of Rev. Walter E. Bentley has been added as the American representative of the appeal and “contributions from Americans may be sent to the editor of The New York Times Saturday Review of Books.”

22 May 1902

The following item is printed in The Stage:
“Miss Harriett Jay’s life of Robert Buchanan will not be published until after the Coronation. Miss Jay, who has just written a play with Mdme. Sarah Grand, has been staying at Southend while completing the work. Among the contributors to the Buchanan Memorial Fund are many eminent names, notably that of Mr. Herbert Spencer. It is understood that many of the dramatist’s admirers incline towards the erection of a drinking fountain in Southend, opposite Buchanan’s former residence, as the most suitable form for the memorial.”

The play referred to is an adaptation of Sarah Grand’s novel, The Heavenly Twins. This was originally a Robert Buchanan / Charles Marlowe collaboration and there are odd references to it in the Press from March, 1896 to August 1902. As far as I know it was never performed.

21 July 1902

Alone in London at the Camden Theatre, London.

The Mariners of England at the Britannia Theatre, Hoxton.

3 October 1902

Premiere at the Sheffield Music Festival of Samuel Taylor-Coleridge’s cantata, Meg Blane.

1903

February 1903

Robert Buchanan. Some Account of his Life, his Life’s Work, and his Literary Friendships by Harriet Jay is published by T. Fisher Unwin.

25 May 1903

A Man’s Shadow at the Queen’s Theatre, Manchester.

25 July 1903

The memorial to Robert Buchanan is unveiled in the churchyard of St. John the Baptist in Southend-on-Sea.
The Times of 27th July gave the following report:
“A memorial to Robert Buchanan, the poet and dramatist, consisting of a bust, was unveiled on Saturday by Mr. T. P. O’Connor, M.P., in St. John’s Churchyard, Southend-on- Sea, where Buchanan and his wife and mother were buried. The bust stands on a granite pedestal, and at the back is a stone screen, while yew trees protect the sides. Mr. George R. Sims was present at the unveiling, in addition to the poet’s sister-in-law, Miss Harriet Jay, the Mayor and Mayoress of Southend, Sir F. C. Rusch, M.P., Colonel Tufnell, M.P., and Mrs. Tufnell. After the gift had been formally handed over to the vicar and churchwardens on behalf of the subscribers, Mr. O’Connor gave an address in the schoolroom descriptive of the lives of Buchanan and his wife and mother. He observed that Buchanan had parents who devoted themselves to what they considered to be right opinions and the benefiting of their fellow men and women. They evidently, however, belonged to that great and imperishable race of dreamers who in the pursuit of the welfare of others forgot their own. Like his father, Buchanan never learned the art of compound addition. Whatever money he made disappeared quickly. Mr. O’Connor pointed out in reference to Buchanan’s attitude that there were always a number of false reputations. It required some clear voice to remind the public that the number of copies sold must not always be taken as the eternal verdict of literature on the quality of the writer. A vote of thanks to Mr. O’Connor was passed at the close.”
A report in The Stage (30 July) mentioned that Roden Noel’s son, the Rev. Conrad Noel, also attended the unveiling of the monument which “was designed by Mr. Morley Horder, and executed by Mr. W. Darke of Southend.”

1904 . . .

6 April 1905

The Maiden Queen, a comic opera in two acts, written by Buchanan and Harriett Jay, with music by Florian Pascal, is given a copyright performance at Ladbroke Hall, London.

6 June 1905

Harriett Jay applies to the Royal Literary Fund. She is sponsored by Hall Caine and R.E. Francillon and receives a grant of £100.

9 September 1905

Harriett Jay signs a contract with the actor James Welch regarding the performing rights of the play Good Old Times. Also known as In Days Of Old, and later to be called When Knights Were Bold, this was originally an 1896 collaboration between Robert Buchanan and Harriett Jay and was offered to Weedon Grossmith, who turned it down in favour of The Romance of the Shopwalker. Under the agreement James Welch was granted the sole right to perform the play in any place or country whatever, and also the sole right to license the performance of any adaptation or translation of it, and he was also at liberty to make any reasonable alteration in the play. Harriett Jay was to receive for every performance in any West-end London theatre three guineas, and one pound ten shillings for each performance in any provincial town and London suburban theatre specified in a schedule to the agreement, and £1 for every performance in any other provincial town in Great Britain.

According to an article in The Stage (19 January, 1922) James Welch paid Harriett Jay £100 for a year’s option on the play and when that expired, £50 for a further six months.

17 September 1906

When Knights Were Bold produced at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham by James Welch.
It is an immediate hit and continues to be performed for the next thirty years, providing a steady income for Harriett Jay, who never relinquished the rights to the play. It is by far the most successful of the Buchanan/Jay collaborations but Buchanan’s name is not associated with it all and the play is credited solely to ‘Charles Marlowe’.

29 January 1907

When Knights Were Bold receives its London premiere at Wyndham’s Theatre.

20 August 1907

When Knights Were Bold is produced at the Garrick Theatre, New York, starring Francis Wilson.

14 November 1907

300th performance of When Knights Were Bold at Wyndham’s Theatre.

1909

The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown published in the series, French’s International Copyrighted Edition of the Works of the Best Authors, no. 163.

30 March 1909

First performance of Hubert Bath’s setting of Buchanan’s poem, ‘The Wedding of Shon Maclean’ at the Queen’s Hall, London.

23 August 1909

Alone in London produced at the Queen’s Theatre, Manchester.

20 September 1910

Dr. Frederic Cowen’s cantata, The Veil (based on Buchanan’s The Book of Orm) is performed at the Cardiff Music Festival.

1913

Two short silent films made based on Robert Buchanan poems. Fra Giacone (based on ‘Fra Giacomo’) produced by Eric Williams Speaking Pictures, and Phil Blood’s Leap is produced by Clarendon and directed by Wilfred Noy.

The Wake of O’Connor - ‘An Irish Rhapsody’ composed by Hubert Bath.

1914

Sweet Nancy published in the French’s Acting Edition series, no. 2455.

10 July 1914

Cecil Coles’ setting of Robert Buchanan’s ‘Fra Giacomo’ is performed at the Queen’s Hall, London at a concert on behalf of the Royal College of Music Patron’s Fund.

1915

A film version of Alone in London is produced by and stars the American actress Florence Turner. It is directed by Larry Trimble.

Master and Man, a film version of The Trumpet Call (U.S. title), is produced by the Neptune Film Company, directed by Percy Nash.

William H. Spear’s setting of Buchanan’s poem, ‘In The Garden’ is published by Cary & Co.

April 1915

British Cinema Productions acquire the film rights to all of Buchanan’s novels. In their contract with Chatto & Windus they ‘agree to produce films of at least two of the said works each year from 31st May 1915’. Harriett Jay receives royalties from the films. By 1920 the agreement has lapsed and Chatto & Windus receive further offers for Buchanan’s works from other film companies.

Information from Alexis Weedon’s Victorian Publishing: The Economics of Book Publishing for a Mass Market 1836-1916.

1916

Film version of The Charlatan produced by Famous Authors, directed by Sidney Morgan.

A film of When Knights Were Bold is produced by the London Film Company, starring James Welch and directed by Maurice Elvey.

An Italian film of When Knights Were Bold is also produced by Aquila Films with the title Il Cavaliere del Silenzio. Directed by Oreste Visalli.

10 April 1917

Death of James Welch.

3 July 1917

Harriett Jay issues a writ against the widow of James Welch claiming that the agreement made in September 1905 regarding the performing rights of When Knights Were Bold was personal to Mr. Welch and ceased to be operative on his death.

20 July 1917

The case of Harriett Jay v. Mrs. Amy Hannah Welch is heard in the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice. During his illness James Welch had made an arrangement with Bromley Challenor to take over his role of Sir Guy de Vere for which Welch received 5% of the gross takings and Harriett Jay received 40% of that. This arrangement is to continue for the time being.

19 October 1917

An agreement is reached in the When Knights Were Bold court case. Harriett Jay remains “the sole proprietor of the play” after coming to a finanacial arrangement with Mrs. Welch. Presumably ahe then made a new agreement with Bromley Challenor who continued to tour the play until his death in 1935.

17 November 1917

When Knights Were Bold revived at the Kingsway Theatre, London starring Bromley Challenor, who has already played Sir Guy de Vere 1500 times in provincial productions.

1918

Film version of God and the Man is produced by the Ideal Film Company, directed by Edwin J. Collins.

Film version of Matt is produced by I. B. Davidson and Tiger Films, directed by A. E. Coleby.

Cuthbert Clarke’s setting of Buchanan’s ‘Phil Blood’s Leap’ is published by Reynolds & Co.

1920

Film version of A Man’s Shadow is produced by Frank E. Spring for Progress Films. Directed by Sidney Morgan.

Film version of The Lights of Home is produced by Screen Plays, directed by Fred Paul.

Film version of The English Rose is produced by John Robyns for British Standard, directed by Fred Paul.

June 1920

Max Pallenberg stars in When Knights were Bold (Die goldene Ritterzeit) at the Theater des Westens in Berlin.

1923

Film version of Buchanan’s poem, ‘The Little Milliner’, entitled Love In An Attic, is produced by Edward Godal for the British & Colonial Kinematograph Company, directed by Edward Greenwood.

Film version of Buchanan’s novel, Woman and the Man, produced in Italy entitled La Donna e l’Uomo by Rinascimento Film, directed by Amleto Palermi.

1925

In her entry in the 1925 edition of Who’s Who In The Theatre, Harriett Jay’s address is given as 20, Seymour Gardens, Ilford, Essex.

29 June 1928

Harriett Jay makes a will.

1929

Third silent film version of When Knights Were Bold is produced by British and Dominions Film Corporation, directed by Tim Whelan.

9 December 1929

Harriett Jay adds a codicil to her will bequeathing all rights to When Knights Were Bold to her nephew, William Paul Jay.

21 December 1932

Harriett Jay dies at ‘The Cottage’, 20, Seymour Gardens, Ilford, Essex, after a long illness. She was 79 years old.

24 December 1932

Harriett Jay is buried beside Robert Buchanan and her sister, Mary,  in the churchyard of St. John the Baptist in Southend-on-Sea.

3 March 1933

Registration of Harriett Jay’s will. She leaves an estate of £4,041, the bulk of which goes to her nephew, William Paul Jay. She leaves her house in trust to her cook and housekeeper.

A copy of Harriett Jay’s will is available on this site.

14 August 1935

Tulip Time, a musical comedy by Worton David, Alfred Parker, Bruce Sievier and Colin Wark, based on The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown is produced at the Alhambra Theatre, London and runs for 425 performances.

17 December 1935

Death of Bromley Challenor (aged 51) at the Fortune Theatre while rehearsing When Knights Were Bold.

1936

Final film adaptation of When Knights Were Bold. Produced by Capitol Film Corporation, directed by Jack Raymond, it stars Jack Buchanan and Fay Wray and includes several musical numbers.

1939

The libretto of Tulip Time is published by Samuel French Ltd.

26 April 1943

Kiss The Girls, a musical version of When Knights Were Bold, opens at the Theatre Royal, Newcastle-on-Tyne at the start of a provincial tour. The musical (book by Harriett Jay, Emile Littler and Thomas Browne, music by Harry Parr-Davies, lyrics by Barbara Gordon and Basil Thomas) is produced by Emile Littler and stars Sonnie Hale and Adele Dixon.

1 July 1943

Kiss The Girls, now retitled The Knight Was Bold, opens at the Piccadilly Theatre, London. It closes after only 10 performances.

1947

Richard Purvis’ setting  of ‘The Ballad of Judas Iscariot’ for choir and organ, published by Elkan-Vogel (Philadelphia).

c. November 1969

Donald Swann composes Soliloquy for Autumn which includes a setting of part of ‘The Ballad of Judas Iscariot’.

27 September 1973

Donald Swann’s Soliloquy for Autumn recorded at Malpas, Cheshire for the BBC TV programme, ‘Seeing & Believing’.

21 October 1973

Donald Swann’s Soliloquy for Autumn broadcast on the BBC TV programme, ‘Seeing & Believing’.

1982

An edition of ‘The Ballad of Judas Iscariot’, illustrated by J. Martin Pitts, is published by the Old Stile Press.

June/July 1996

A restored version of La Donna e l’Uomo (the 1923 Italian film of Buchanan’s Woman and the Man) is shown at the Festival International du Film de La Rochelle in a retrospective of the films of the actress Pina Menichelli.

27 August 2002

This website goes online.

25 March 2005

‘The Wickedest Man’, a programme about Judas Iscariot, is broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It concludes with a reading of the final stanzas of ‘The Ballad of Judas Iscariot’ by Andrew Sachs.

10 July 2005

‘Judas Iscariot, The Church Cantata’, composed by Paul Pilott to commemorate the Centenary celebrations of St. Mary’s Church, Alverstoke, Gosport, receives its first performance. The work is inspired by ‘The Ballad of Judas Iscariot’.

26 April 2009

‘Song of the Slain’ for soprano and piano, composed by Douglas DaSilva, performed at Jan Hus Church, 351 East 74th Street, New York by Angela Scherrar (soprano) and Alexandra Frederick (piano) as part of  the Vox Novus Composer’s Voice concert series.

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