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Biography
Frank Richard's autobiography must have been one of the most unrevealing biographies ever. He omitted most of his early life with the first sentence in the book being "Frank Richards, at 17 was at a loose end". Several other biographies have appeared in print over the decades, the last being the long awaited biography from his niece Una Hamilton Wright in 2006. One of my favourites is "The World of Frank Richards" compiled by W.O.G. Lofts and D.J. Adley in 1975. You can read the book here.
Steve Holland wrote an excellent article on Hamilton's life 'After the Magnet'. You can read it here.
Letters
Frank Richards was always a prolific letter writer but his output increased after the war when legions of fans started writing to him. Eric Fayne published a booklet with a selection of Hamilton letters from around 1940 until just a few months before his death on Christmas Eve 1961. You can read the booklet here.
Occasionally original letters turn up for sale. The following letters were bought by Michael Bailey and he has kindly shared them.
FR Letter to Ben Whiter 16th Dec 1949 FR Letter to Geoffrey Cook 13th April 1951
The following letters were kindly shared by Naveed Haque-
FR letter to Derek Smith 20th December 1950 FR letter to Mr Cawley 3rd December 1958 FR letter to Mr Norman 13th May 1949
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
Naveed Haque recently acquired the main typewriter used by Charles Hamilton. You can see a clip of Hamilton using it here.
You can watch a short video description of the camera and typewriter by Naveed 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 aficionado, 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.
| Hamilton's Cine Camera. Naveed Haque recently acquired Hamilton's cine camera from the late Betty Acreman. Naveed comments- "The attached photos are those of Charles
Hamilton's personal cine-camera. It was acquired by (Naveed Haque) in 2010 from
Betty Acraman (the widow of the late collector Bob Acraman). You can watch a short video description of the camera and typewriter by Naveed here. |
| The Hamilton Museum When Hamilton passed away his will instructed "Now I direct that my trustees shall permit my said housekeeper Edith Elsie Hood to have the exclusive use and enjoyment of my freehold Rose Lawn Kingsgate aforesaid during her life she paying all rates taxes fire insurance and other outgoings in respect thereof.." Edith stayed in Rose Lawn until early 1980 before deciding it was time to move into a nursing home. In all the years she had stayed in the house since Hamilton's death his study remained unchanged. As the house had to be cleared she sought advice from Bob Acraman about what she should do with the contents of the study. Bob agreed to look after the contents by setting up a Hamilton museum in his own home in Ruislip for the benefit of all Hamilton aficionados. The museum was officially opened by Edith Hood 16th December 1979. At each Friars meeting Bob opened the museum and any donations received were sent to Edith. The photographs show Edith Hood at the formal opening of the museum in 1980 and Bob Acraman seated at Hamilton's desk. Roger Acraman videoed some of the items in the museum, you can see them here. Additional items belonging to Charles Hamilton can be viewed in the The Charles Hamilton Museum Illustrated created for the London branch of the Old Boys Book Club by the Museum Press. |
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".
