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Papers of William Fryer Harvey and further papers of John Wilfred Harvey

Archive Sub-collection: MS 1733

Details

Type of record: Archive

Title: Papers of William Fryer Harvey and further papers of John Wilfred Harvey

Level: Sub-collection

Classmark: MS 1733

Creator(s): Harvey, William Fryer (1885-1937)()

Date(s): c.1898-1974

Language: English

Size and medium: 6 boxes (5 for W.F. Harvey, 1 for J.W. Harvey), containing manuscript, typescript and printed material.

Persistent link: https://explore.library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-explore/6786

Collection group(s): Quaker Collection

Description

Comprises: (a) William Fryer Harvey: a large collection of writings from all periods of his life, published and unpublished, including fiction, poetry and drama, often in multiple versions. The greatest quantity of material relates to his mystery and horror stories, but includes also children's books, serious writings on aspects of Quakerism (including on Quaker medical history, on silent worship, and his unpublished "A Layman's Religion"), humorous Quaker skits, and notes and writings on English poetry. Other material includes letters, from him and other correspondents; the obituary notice of W.F. Harvey in "The Friend"; writings by his widow, Margaret M. Harvey; and material relating to the W.F. Harvey memorial lecture given at Poole in 1963 by the historian David Thomson. (b) John Wilfred Harvey: a considerable quantity of his literary writings in the form of fiction, poetry and drama, published and unpublished, some of them using the name John Farndale, including acrostics celebrating
family members or events and a collection of his annual Christmas verses. There are some letters, including correspondence and testimonials relating to J.W. Harvey's applications for academic posts (assembled in 1974), and correspondence relating to attempts to have his plays performed on the radio and to have other writings published posthumously.


Additional item added October 2017: a typescript copy of '"The pied piper of Hamelin": a new ending for the poem of Robert Browning' by J.W. Harvey [1960].

Biography or history

The Harveys were one of the prominent Quaker families in Leeds in the 19th and early 20th centuries. W.F. Harvey and J.W. Harvey were two of the seven children of William and Anna Maria Harvey. W.F. Harvey began work in the adult education movement, then joined the Friends Ambulance Unit at the outbreak of the First World War. However, in 1916 he decided to complete a medical course he had earlier abandoned (when ill-health caused him to leave Oxford University), and on qualification was appointed a naval surgeon. In 1918 his health was permanently affected as the result of breathing in oil fumes while performing an amputation in a flooded boiler-room; for this act he was awarded the Albert Medal. After the war he resumed adult education work, as the warden of Fircroft College, until recurring ill-health forced his retirement in 1925. In his later years he established a considerable reputation as a writer of both mystery and horror stories, and of children's stories, but he also wrote
on Quaker matters and published an account of his childhood, "We Were Seven". J.W. Harvey, who took a First in Greats from Balliol College, Oxford, held the Chair of Philosophy at the University of Leeds from 1932 to 1954, having earlier held the same chair at Newcastle. Outside of academic life he was involved in a large number of humanitarian activities, including support for refugees and furthering international understanding; in this connection he was successively chairman and president of International Voluntary Service.

Provenance

Typescript copy of '"The pied piper of Hamelin": a new ending' by J.W. Harvey a gift per Russell Stanley Mortimer.

Access and usage

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Access to this material is unrestricted.

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The University of Leeds Special Collections is the main repository for Yorkshire Quaker Archives. Collections include the official records of meeting houses and those of prominent Quaker families.

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