Dates

• Existence: 1869 - 1955

Biography

Edward Henry Blakeney (1869-1955), classical scholar and poet, was educated at Westminster School and, between 1888 and 1891, at Trinity College, Cambridge. He was headmaster of Sandwich Grammar School; Borlase's School, Marlow; and the King's School, Ely; before becoming senior master at Winchester in 1918. Later in life he was briefly Lecturer in English Literature at the new Southampton University. Blakeney was a prolific author, publishing books and articles on a wide range of Classical and Biblical subjects, together with several volumes of poetry, many of which he printed on his own press. His private publications also reflected two of his lifelong obsessions: Alpine climbing, and the habits and awareness of the domestic cat. Blakeney's father, William Blakeney, R.N., worked in the cartographic section of the Admiralty, and in his youth sailed on pioneering voyages to chart the Eastern seas, experiences which he described in his book On the Coasts of Cathay and Cipango, Forty Years Ago (London, 1902). Edward's brother Robert 'Bertie' Blakeney had a successful career in the Army, before retiring to play a significant part in the early development of the British Fascist Movement during the 1920s. Edward Blakeney's youngest son, Thomas Sydney Blakeney, also features in the collection. He was a noted authority on Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories.

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