Arthur Waugh

Who was Arthur Waugh?

Arthur Waugh was an English author, literary critic, and publisher. He was the father of the writers Alec and Evelyn Waugh.

Waugh was born in Midsomer Norton, Somerset, in 1866 and was educated at Sherborne School, Sherborne, Dorset and New College, Oxford, where he won the Newdigate Prize for Poetry for a ballad on the subject of Gordon of Khartoum in 1888.

In 1892, he wrote the first biography of the poet Alfred Tennyson, which was published by William Heineman. In 1894, he contributed to the first issue of the infamous Yellow Book. In 1899 he wrote the rhymes for a children's books with illustrations by William Nicholson. In 1900 Waugh wrote a brief biography of Robert Browning. He was also a regular correspondent for the New York Critic, and from 1906 to 1931, he was a literary critic for The Daily Telegraph.

His published works include poetry, biographies, literary criticism, and an autobiography, titled One Man's Road, in 1931.

From 1902 to 1930, he was the Managing Director and Chairman of the publishing house Chapman and Hall, about which he wrote a detailed history titled A Hundred Years in Publishing in 1930.

He died at his home in Highgate in June 1943. Fourteen volumes of his diaries covering the period of 1930 to his death are held in the Boston University Library.