Sir Richard Vincent Sutton c. 1913
A happy memory of Trinity College: undergraduates breakfast together in Downy V. Green, p. 77.
K.N. Das Gupta and Margaret Mitchell in an Indian Dramatic Society production of The Maharani of Arakan, 1913?
Jean Ryckaert, May 1916.
Basic form of the Calderon coat of arms
George and Kittie Calderon 1905
Monarch Butterfly Madeira
The entrance to Fort Brockhurst (picture from Britain’s Past)
Michel and Vera Fokine in “Scheherazade”, 1914 (The Music And Theatre Library of Sweden, creative commons)
Book sent to George Calderon in Russia by his mother, Christmas 1895.
Captain of the 11
Christmas 1901 Cartoon by George Calderon
Colonel Sir Walter Coote Hedley c. 1920
George Calderon c.1901
Patrick Miles in his summer house, 11 December 2016
Unpublished watercolour by George Calderon, Tahiti 1906
Frontis piece by Frank Calderon
Figure from Gauguin’s 1899 painting ‘Tahitian Women with Mango Blossoms’ (left); George Calderon’s pencil sketch ‘Manu’ (right)
George Calderon, 1912Recent Comments
- Catherine Brown on The diary of a writer-publisher: 38 Thank you so much for this wonderful recollection of Mr Prynne. In case of interest, my own, which concerns Prynne in the 1990s, is here:... (May 21, 2026 at 11:20 am)
- harvey pitcher on The diary of a writer-publisher: 37 well, i had a shock when you said you'd acquired a dog but then i saw it wasn't. i have nothing against dogs though i prefer cats but fiona is very opposed to dogs or rather... (April 15, 2026 at 4:35 pm)
- Laurence Brockliss on A new story by John Melmoth: ‘Snowballs’ What a pitch perfect short story: crisp, graphic, nostalgic, evocative and mischievous. The injustice of schoolboy punishments comes in many forms, is never forgotten and is... (March 10, 2026 at 10:09 am)
- Patrick Miles on The diary of a writer-publisher: 36 Wonderful, Andrew! Thank you very much. I will borrow that title, if you don't object... I hope you will allow Calderonia to feature your own next magnum opus after the Great... (February 28, 2026 at 8:18 am)
- Andrew Tatham on The diary of a writer-publisher: 36 A brilliantly evocative and thought-provoking medley of observations that would not be out of place in 'The collected life of a flat-cap penguin' (your words, only slightly... (February 27, 2026 at 9:48 am)
Author Archives: Patrick Miles
Fort Brockhurst
If my dating of Calderon’s ‘Sunday’ letter to the Sturge Moore family is correct, then today, Monday 18 January 1915, George’s company (about 250 men) of the 9th Battalion Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry moved into Fort Brockhurst, which is … Continue reading
17 (?) January 1915
Fortis est veritas 9th Battalion Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Belgium, Dan Sturge Moore, Daniel Sturge Moore, George Calderon, Henriette Sturge Moore, Kittie Calderon, Marie Sturge Moore, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, Portsmouth, Riette Sturge Moore, The Great War, Thomas Sturge Moore, World War I
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15 January 1915: The move to barracks
I conclude, by a process of the usual ‘triangulation’, that the newly commissioned Lieutenant Calderon travelled down by train to report to the Portsmouth base of the 9th Battalion Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry today, Friday 15 January 1915: 1. … Continue reading
The military situation
Trench warfare was continuing along the Western Front, but Falkenhayn had no major offensive in view before the spring because he was too embroiled in his Eastern Front (see my post of 5 December 2014). Meanwhile, on 13 January 1915 … Continue reading
9 January 1915: Commission
This is the final state of George Calderon’s application for a commission: The writing in red ink across the left hand side of the form reads: ‘Temporary Commission as Lieutenant in 9 Battln Oxford & Bucks Light Inftr & order … Continue reading
Posted in Edwardian character
Tagged anti-suffragism, Anton Chekhov, Brian Harrison, commissions, Coote Hedley, Francis Newbolt, George Calderon, Henry Newbolt, Julia Bush, military interpreters, Oxford, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, The Great War, Trinity College Oxford, World War I
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The Medical
About now, Thursday 7 January 1915, George Calderon went before a Board for medical examination. It is rather surprising how little concrete information one can obtain now about military medical examination procedures in the First World War. Recurrent themes are … Continue reading
Phantom flies in amber
So George was preparing himself in earnest for his forthcoming medical. He mentions having ‘massages’. I have a clear recollection of reading somewhere that these were ‘electrical’ massages — presumably the latest thing — but I cannot for the life … Continue reading
(Commentary)
Staggered by flu, I did not have the energy to add any comments to my post of George’s New Year letter to William Rothenstein; but I will offer a few points now. William Rothenstein is an extremely interesting figure. He … Continue reading
Posted in Edwardian marriage, Personal commentary
Tagged Anton Chekhov, Augustus John, comments, George Calderon, Grant Richards, Harold Nicolson, Il'ia Tolstoi, Kittie Calderon, military interpreters, Percy Lubbock, Tahiti, The Great War, Vita Sackville-West, William Rothenstein, World War I, Ypres
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23-31 December 1914: Christmas at Foxwold
Christmas Day 1914 was a Friday. Two days before, George and Kittie Calderon, together with their Belgian refugees Jean Ryckaert and Raymond Dereume, made their way by train to Sevenoaks, where they changed for Brasted. At Brasted station they were … Continue reading
Posted in Edwardian character, Edwardian marriage
Tagged Alan Lubbock, Archie Ripley, Captain Charles Evelyn Pym, Catherine Lubbock, Cecil Lubbock, Charles Dickens, comments, Foxwold, Foxwold Chase, Frederic Lubbock, George Calderon, Georgina Hogarth, Guy Lubbock, Horace Pym, Jean Ryckaert, Kittie Calderon, Percy Lubbock, Raymond Dereume, Roy Lubbock, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, Samuel Lubbock, The Great War, toy theatre, Violet Pym, World War I
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A biographer’s long breath
Back in September, on 27th to be precise, a former professor of American and English literature at Leeds University, Park Honan, died at the age of eighty-six. Since another former professor of English literature recently expressed to me the view … Continue reading
Another big ‘Cauldron’
Rather late in the day, I asked my research assistant to look into the eldest of George Calderon’s brothers, Alfred Merigon Calderon, who was born on 7 June 1861, seven years before George, and was known to have emigrated to … Continue reading
The next week
There is no documentary evidence for what George did between 17 and 23 December 1914, when he and Kittie left for what she described as ‘a delightful Christmas at Foxwold [Brasted, Kent] with the Pyms’. But we can be pretty … Continue reading
17 December 1914
42 WELL WALK, … Continue reading
A review
George’s commission was dated 9 January 1915, which was a Saturday, and on the same day the literary magazine The Athenaeum came out with an unsigned review of his translation of Il’ia Tolstoi’s Reminiscences of Tolstoy. However, it is likely that George … Continue reading →