Biography

If you would like to know more about the life and works of Charles Hamilton a good starting point is Steve Holland's "After the Magnet" Biography section, you can access it here.

You can read a brief biography of Charles Hamilton from the book "the men behind boys Fiction" by W.O.G. Lofts and D. J. Adley here.

Birth, death, marriage certificates and census returns

Michael and Daniel have kindly supplied the following certificates. Have a look, they provide a fascinating insight into Hamilton's family.

Hamilton parents Marriage certificate          Charles Hamilton birth certificate            Charles Hamilton Death Certificate

Charles Hamilton 1841 Census Entry              Charles Hamilton 1851 Census Entry          Charles Hamilton 1861 Census Entry

Charles Hamilton 1871 Census Entry (P1)       Charles Hamilton 1871 Census Entry (P2)    Charles Hamilton 1881 Census Entry

Charles Hamilton 1891 Census Entry             Charles Hamilton 1901 Census Entry     

Charles Hamilton Army discharge paper        Frank Richards autograph

Hamilton's Typewriter Please download Java(tm).

Naveed Haque recently acquired the main typewriter used by Charles Hamilton. You can see a clip of Hamilton using it here.    

Naveed comments-

"The photos, taken in June 2009, are those of Frank Richards' principal typewriter. It is a "Remington Standard 10 typewriter". From the serial number I have confirmed that it was manufactured in January 1922, so the author must have acquired it that very month or any subsequent date during that particular year.
    I am very fortunate in obtaining possession of this typewriter---indeed as I am somewhat of a Hamilton aficianado, absolutely 'thrilled' would be a better description! This is truly a unique and worth-while link with the literary life of Frank Richards. The typewriter was owned and utilized by him from 1922 to December of 1961, when he passed away. It was truly almost a daily companion, so to speak.
    Following the authors passing, it continued to be located in his study at his home in Kent ('Rose Lawn'), under the care of his house-keeper Ms. Edith Hood. In 1979, Edith Hood was concerned about the provenance of certain items owned by the author (including this typewriter) , after she had to contemplate retiring to a rest home.
    Consequently she passed it into the care of the late, well-known hobby enthusiast Bob Acraman, who displayed it for a time in a museum-like setting at his own house in Ruislip.
    Over the ensuing years, and a move to another home, he was only too willing to show it to people who were interested. In the early years of our present century, the typewriter spent a short duration at the Broadstairs museum, and then was relegated in storage to a back-room in the offices of the Broadstairs Council, until Mr Acraman's family regained possession.
    The typewriter is now proudly owned by Naveed Haque in Canada, together with two spools of ribbons (with the distinctive purple colour), that were also the property of Frank Richards.
    An interesting aspect is the wearing down of the black enamel on the right-hand side of the space-bar. This was due to constant use by Frank Richards over the years! I find the typewriter in ancient, but fairly good condition. Very stable. Everything works, and the keys are quite clear and non-faded.
Frank Richards owned an earlier typewriter, which now seems to be lost to posterity. This had been a Remington Standard no 7 (a 'blind', by which I mean that the typist could not view the print on the page while typing). As opposed to this later Remington Standard no 10, where the typist could view the page. There is some brief mention of both these typewriters of Frank's on pg 151 of his auto-biography. Mary Cadogan in her biography of Frank Richards also mentions the typewriters, refer pg 24/25.
    The No 7 model initially came out for sale in 1898 (with quotas in subsequent years), and I believe the prevailing notion is that Frank Richards purchased a slightly later manufactured model, and retained it from perhaps 1901 to 1922. Further information on his earlier Remington typewriter may be found on pg 168 of the autobiography.

The Greyfriars Suite

Thomas Arnold Johnson composed "the Suite Greyfriars" in 1948 and dedicated the music to Frank Richards. The works encompassed music to be played by piano, and dealt with some characters at Greyfriars (including Billy Bunter).

Thomas Arnold Johnson was a composer who produced a good deal of music for learners. He was well known for piano duets, although also solos, sight reading exercises and two piano works.
His first compositions were published when he was still a schoolboy at the age of 15, and he later obtained his teaching and performing diplomas at the Royal college of music in Manchester.
Mr Johnson also collected sheet music and specialized in complete published works of minor composers from the 1800's. He produced decent versions of favourite pieces from some of these composers.

Obviously an enthusiast of the Magnet, Thomas Arnold Johnson dedicated "The Greyfriars Suite" to Frank Richards, and it is on record that the author was very pleased by it, and in a post-war letter to another reader and Greyfriars enthusiast he stated to the effect that it was refreshing to hear the Suite prior to writing the Bunter stories.

The Museum press publication of the book honouring Roger Jenkins:  "Do you Remember: Reflections on the Writings of Charles Hamilton"  has a photo of Mr Jenkins playing the suite at a piano in Rose Lawn circa 1974.

The original copy of the manuscript is in the possession of Naveed Haque. You can download a scan of the manuscript here.

Drawings and Doodles

Hamilton enjoyed drawing and proved himself a competent artist by having one of his drawings appear in the Gem issue 176. The drawing shows D'Arcy looking for his 'fivah' and is supposedly by Harry Manners. Only the observant would notice the 'CH' initials on the bottom RH corner.

Charles Hamilton was also fond of 'doodling' and a number of his doodles have appeared  in various publications.  Naveed has recently bought some original doodles and has kindly provided scans for Friardale. You can see the scans at the bottom of this page but if you want to download higher resolution scans then click on the links below.

 FR doodle 1     FR doodle 2   FR doodle 5    FR doodle 7    FR doodle 8

Naveed comments "The depicted five drawings, or what I allude to as 'doodles' are authentic by Charles Hamilton (Frank Richards), and were for a time in the possession of the late Bob Acraman. He got the permission of Frank Richard's housekeeper Edith Hood in 1979 to make them available for potential viewing, in addition to some other Hamilton items, in a museum setting at Ruislip, England. The amateur 'museum' was officially opened by Edith Hood herself in a ceremony. The first doodle was published in the late Maurice Hall's biography.
Subsequently in later years the drawings ended up with the Broadstairs museum for a duration, but were not publicly shown in a display.
The originals of these Frank Richard drawings, in addition to a further three original pages of Hamilton doodles/drawings, are presently in the collection of Naveed Haque".