Book sent to George Calderon in Russia by his mother, Christmas 1895.
Colonel Sir Walter Coote Hedley c. 1920
George Calderon, 1912
The entrance to Fort Brockhurst (picture from Britain’s Past)
Monarch Butterfly Madeira
Sir Richard Vincent Sutton c. 1913
Figure from Gauguin’s 1899 painting ‘Tahitian Women with Mango Blossoms’ (left); George Calderon’s pencil sketch ‘Manu’ (right)
Captain of the 11
A happy memory of Trinity College: undergraduates breakfast together in Downy V. Green, p. 77.
George and Kittie Calderon 1905
Jean Ryckaert, May 1916.
Christmas 1901 Cartoon by George Calderon
K.N. Das Gupta and Margaret Mitchell in an Indian Dramatic Society production of The Maharani of Arakan, 1913?
Michel and Vera Fokine in “Scheherazade”, 1914 (The Music And Theatre Library of Sweden, creative commons)
George Calderon c.1901
Basic form of the Calderon coat of arms
Unpublished watercolour by George Calderon, Tahiti 1906
Patrick Miles in his summer house, 11 December 2016
Frontis piece by Frank CalderonRecent Comments
- Jim D G Miles on From the diary of a writer-publisher: 28 Excellent entry, Dad. I like the escape room picture, of course, but the story about the Russian and the hole-in-the-wall is exceptional! (28/03/2024 at 9:58 PM)
- Patrick Miles on Short story: ‘Crox’ Thank you, dear anonymous Theo...it is so refreshing to hear the reaction of a Man of the People! Keep a good grip on those cords! 'Part II'?! The rest is secreted in lines (18/12/2023 at 10:33 PM)
- Theo on Short story: ‘Crox’ Delicious! "Are you being Served?" meets "Keeping up Appearances" via Calderotica. But Patrick, you cannot leave us dangling like that just before Christmas! One thing - c (18/12/2023 at 1:35 PM)
- Patrick Miles on Cambridge Tales 8: ‘Black Tie’ Thank you, Damian, for sharing your problem with us. It's difficult to know what to prescribe. Perhaps try examining the facts of the story (e.g. there are not 6 medics in the (20/11/2023 at 9:44 AM)
- Damian Grant on Cambridge Tales 8: ‘Black Tie’ Patrick: I read your story 'Black Tie' on Monday, and knew immediately that it didn't work for me. There was something forced, factitious; something that didn't let the elemen (17/11/2023 at 2:26 PM)
Monthly Archives: April 2015
The biographer discombobulated
I am greatly entertained by Mistress Ruth Scurr’s new book John Aubrey: My Own Life. It contains 433 pages. My honoured friend Mr William Harvey warns me that I shall acquire an impostumation if I sit reading it much longer. I … Continue reading
28 April 1915: The First Battle of Krithia
Yesterday a general advance began at Helles, occupying the ground vacated by Turkish forces the day before. The Allied line now extended from coast to coast about two miles up from the tip of the Cape. Simultaneously, Turkish reserves streamed … Continue reading
George Calderon’s ‘magnum opus’
27 April 1915 was a Tuesday, so George was presumably back at Fort Brockhurst, having returned from weekend leave yesterday. The only other literary work that he may have tinkered with when he was home at weekends was a book … Continue reading
Posted in Edwardian literature, Personal commentary
Tagged anthropology, comments, Demon Feasts, folklore, Fort Brockhurst, Fritz Epstein, George Calderon, Isabel Fry, James Frazer, Paul Boyer, Percy Lubbock, Simon Franklin, Tahiti, Ted Hughes, The Golden Bough, The Great War, William Blake, World War I
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26 April 1915
By one o’clock this morning all the remaining first-wave troops had been safely landed at V Beach, Helles. They began to dig themselves in and cut their way through the heavy barbed wire up the beach. The navy battered the … Continue reading
25 April 1915: The bloodbath begins
At 4.30 this morning the first ANZAC troops began landing at Z Beach on the Gallipoli Peninsula. They were not strongly opposed, as von Sanders’s strategy was to keep a light screen around the coast until it was clear where … Continue reading
Posted in Edwardian character, Personal commentary
Tagged Achi Baba, ANZAC, Dardanelles, Dublin Fusiliers, Gallipoli, General William Birdwood, George Calderon, Ian Hamilton, King's Own Scottish Borderers, Lancashire Fusiliers, Liman von Sanders, Mal Tepe, Nigel Steel, Peter Hart, River Clyde, Royal Fusiliers, The Great War, World War I
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24 April 1915
The 23rd and 24th April were days of matchless beauty, and the glistening splendour of the sea and sky was a picture such as can only be found in the Aegean, and there only in days of early spring. To … Continue reading
Posted in Edwardian character, Edwardian English
Tagged Dardanelles, Gallipoli, George Calderon, Ian Hamilton, Mudros, The Great War, World War I
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St George’s Day 1915
This morning the weather in the Aegean was fine and clear. Admiral de Robeck therefore ordered the smaller craft in the harbour of Mudros to move to Tenedos — the first step towards assembling the fleet for landings at Gallipoli … Continue reading
The note darkens
I did not notice it when I got to this point in writing the chapter in my biography, but the day-by-day ‘real time’ of the blog has brought it home to me: the note has definitely darkened by this date … Continue reading
21 April 1915
Fortis est veritas 9th Batt. Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry Wednesday My dear Mother, Haven’t I been writing regularly? Well, you know there’s plenty to do here, and once I’ve got off a sheet to … Continue reading
20 April 1915
Brinsop Court. Hereford. (Statn Credenhill. Tels Burghill.) Tuesday Darling Dina, It’s absolutely unthinkable that you are not here, and I do know how you are feeling about it, but time and space are nothing, and your dear spirit just wraps me round … Continue reading
Posted in Edwardian marriage
Tagged 'Phyllis', Colonel Geoffrey Feilding, Constance Astley, Constance Sutton, Dick Sutton, Edward Brooke, Eliza Stewart, Father Waggett, Fort Brockhurst, George Calderon, Hubert Astley, Jim Corbet, Kittie Calderon, Nina Astley, Sir Richard Sutton, Sir Roland James Corbet, The Great War, World War I
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17 April 1915
This morning, at Brinsop Court in Herefordshire, Nina Astley (Lady Corbet by her first marriage) received a telegram from the War Office informing her that her son Sir Roland James Corbet (Jim) had been killed at Givenchy (see my post … Continue reading
Posted in Edwardian character, Personal commentary
Tagged Acton Reynald, Brinsop Court, Constance Astley, Constance Sutton, Dick Sutton, Elizabeth Hayes, Fort Brockhurst, George Calderon, Givenchy, Jim Corbet, Kittie Calderon, Lesbia Corbet, Nina Astley, Shropshire, Sir Richard Sutton, Sir Roland James Corbet, telegrams, The Great War, World War I
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15 April 1915
April 15. 1915 [France] Dear Mrs Astley — it is with the greatest grief that I write to you to tell you of your son’s death which took place at 8 a.m. this morning. It was very foggy, and your … Continue reading
‘The Maharani’: A postscript
Read The Maharani of Arakan yourself to decide whether it is (just) ‘A Romantic Comedy’, as George playfully subtitled it, or a ‘Symbolist Mystery Play’ (allegory)! Having re-read it over the weekend, I increasingly feel it’s the latter. If it is … Continue reading
What is ‘The Lamp’ about? (2)
Presumably George was home again at 42 Well Walk, Hampstead, for the long weekend of 9-12 April 1915, so he may have done more work on leaving various literary projects in a publishable state in case he did not come … Continue reading
Posted in Edwardian literature, Personal commentary
Tagged Anton Chekhov, comments, Ernst Zermelo, Feofan Zatvornik, Geminae, Georg Cantor, George Calderon, La Sainte Courtisane, Lenin, mathematics, Oscar Wilde, Rugby Scool, Russell's Paradox, set theory, The Fountain, The Great War, The Lamp, The Little Stone House, The Two Talismans, World War I
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Kittie’s story
As I have said before, none of George and Kittie’s letters to each other written whilst he was at Fort Brockhurst has survived (there is an envelope addressed to her by George and postmarked Gosport 3 May, but no letter … Continue reading →