Winston Graham

Biography

Graham was born at 66 Langdale Road, Victoria Park, Manchester, on 30 June 1908 at 8 a.m. As a child, Winston contracted pneumonia, and on medical advice was educated at a local day school rather than Manchester Grammar School which his father had in mind for him. Graham's father, Albert Grime, was a prosperous tea importer and grocer, but became incapacitated by a stroke.

When he was 17 years old, Winston moved to Perranporth, Cornwall, where he lived for 34 years. He had wanted to be a writer from an early age and, following the death of his father, he was supported by his mother while he wrote novels at home in longhand and attempted to get them published.

In September 1939, Graham married Jean Williamson, having first met her in 1926 when she was 13 years old. She often was known to help Graham with ideas for his books, and the character of Demelza, in his Poldark series, was based in part on her. Graham's daughter said, “Father was the author but my mother helped with the details because she was very observant. She saw everything and remembered it all." Jean died in 1992.

During his youth, Graham was a keen tennis player and recorded in his diaries how many sets he played each day. He lived in Perranporth from October 1925 until January 1960, then briefly, during the summer of 1960, in the south of France before finally settling in East Sussex. He was chairman of the Society of Authors and a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. In 1983, he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.

He was Chairman of the Society of Authors from 1967 to 1969.

Graham died on 10 July 2003 in London at the age of 95. His autobiography, Memoirs of a Private Man, was published that same year.

Remembrances and legacy

The Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro, Cornwall had an exhibition devoted to his life and works (Poldark's Cornwall: The Life and Times of Winston Graham) from mid-June to mid-September 2008 to celebrate the centenary of his birth, coinciding with re-publication of the Poldark novels by Pan Macmillan. Additionally, the Winston Graham Historical Prize was initiated as part of the Centenary Celebrations, funded by a legacy from the author and supported by Pan Macmillan. It is awarded for a work of unpublished fiction, preferably with an association with Cornwall. Details can be obtained from the Royal Cornwall Museum.

The majority of Winston Graham's manuscripts and papers have been donated to the Royal Institution of Cornwall by his son Andrew Graham and daughter Rosamund Barteau. Further papers are housed at the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center at Boston University.

Literary career

Graham's first novel The House with the Stained Glass Windows was published in 1934.

His first Poldark novel Ross Poldark was published in 1945 and was succeeded by a series of eleven further titles, the last of which was Bella Poldark, published in 2002. The series was set in Cornwall, especially in and near Perranporth where Graham lived for more than three decades (1925-1960).

Graham was also an accomplished author of suspense novels and, during the course of his life, wrote thirty-two novels (in addition to the twelve Poldark books). The 1941 spy thriller Night Journey, set in Nazi-occupied Europe, captures some of the spirit of the time, with the protagonist believing that Britain was perhaps going to lose the war, but remaining determined to "go down fighting". Other than the Poldark novels, Graham's most successful work was Marnie, a suspense thriller published in 1961.

Graham also wrote a history of The Spanish Armadas, and the historical novel The Grove of Eagles, set in that period. (The plural "Armadas" refers to a lesser-known second attempt by Philip II of Spain to conquer England in 1598, which Graham argued was better planned and organised than the famous one of 1588, but was foiled by a fierce storm scattering the Spanish ships and sinking many of them.) His books have been translated into 27 languages.

Graham's autobiography Memoirs of a Private Man was published by Macmillan in 2003.

Television and film adaptations of works

The first seven Poldark novels were adapted as a BBC television series broadcast in the UK between 1975 and 1977, which garnered audiences of about 14 million viewers. The series was so successful that some vicars rescheduled or cancelled church services, rather than try to have them clash with the broadcast of the Poldark series. However, Graham himself hated the show because of the portrayal of Demelza as promiscuous and 'loose'. Even though he tried to cancel the show, he could not do anything about it.

The Poldark novels have been adapted for television on two other occasions.

Graham's novel Marnie (1961), a thriller, was filmed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1964, with Tippi Hedren and Sean Connery in the leads.

Marnie (1961) was also adapted as a play by Sean O'Connor in 2001, which returned the story to its original British setting and bleak ending.

Five of Graham's other books have been filmed, including: