A. C. Benson
A. C. Benson, born on April 24, 1862, was a prominent English author and essayist, known for his insightful literary contributions and connections to notable figures in literature and society. The son of Edward White Benson, who served as Archbishop of Canterbury, A. C. Benson exhibited academic excellence from a young age, studying at prestigious institutions such as Eton and King's College, Cambridge. His literary career began with the publication of "Memoirs of Arthur Hamilton" in 1886, and he became well-regarded for his essays that often reflected a liberal Christian perspective. Benson's prolific writing included critical essays on education and biographies of famous literary figures, which further solidified his reputation.
Despite facing personal challenges, including periods of depression linked to family tragedies and health issues, Benson continued to write, producing works that became more reflective after World War I. His later publications, such as "Rambles and Reflections" and "Basil Netherby," showcased his literary prowess and aligned him with his brothers, who were also successful authors. A. C. Benson's life and works remain significant in the context of early 20th-century literature, marking him as a key figure among his contemporaries. He passed away on June 17, 1925, leaving behind a legacy that continues to be studied and appreciated.
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Subject Terms
A. C. Benson
Poet
- Born: April 24, 1862
- Birthplace: England
- Died: June 17, 1925
- Place of death: England
Biography
A. C. Benson was born on April 24, 1862, the oldest son and second child of a family that would produce three leading men of letters. His father, Edward White Benson, served as Archbishop of Canterbury from 1877 to 1896. Benson was educated at the Temple Grove School and entered Eton as a King’s Scholar in 1874. He was an outstanding student and attended King’s College at Cambridge University on scholarship from 1881 to 1885. His experiences there provided raw material for Memoirs of Arthur Hamilton (1886), his first published book and the first of several pseudonymously published works in which he would write on themes close to his heart. In 1885, he returned to Eton for a teaching post he would hold until 1903. For most of the next decade, he devoted his creative energies to writing poetry, much of it privately published. He also wrote appreciative biographical and critical essays of literary figures and personal friends that were shaped by his liberal Christian viewpoint. Some were gathered for Essays (1897), whose positive reception set Benson on the path to become one of the best-known essayists of his time. In 1902, Benson wrote The Schoolmaster, a collection of essays critical of contemporary education standards at English public schools. The following year he resigned from Eton, having parlayed an association with the royal family, built through school and family ties, into work coediting the correspondence of Queen Victoria. Although this job became the focus of his activity for the next four years, Benson found time to compile monumental biographies of John Ruskin, Walter Pater, Edward Fitzgerald and Alfred Lord Tennyson, the short story collection The Hill of Trouble, and Other Stories (1903), and the poetry volume The Isles of Sunset (1904). His prodigious output during this interval also included the essay collection The Thread of Gold (1905) and The Upton Letters, the latter a collection of semifictional essays in which Benson wrote reflectively on the spiritual and cultural issues that shaped works published under his own name. He was elected a fellow of Magadalene College in 1904, and his tenure there inspired From a College Window (1806), another compilation of ruminative essays on art, culture and education. Benson’s renown increased with the publication of three volumes of Queen Victoria’s letters in 1908. Later that year, however, overwork and distress at his sister’s declining health drove him into a depression that lasted for two years and required temporary institutionalization. He returned to Magdalene and a busy writing schedule, but the deaths of his brother Robert Hugh Benson in 1914, his sister Maggie in 1916, and his mother in 1918 plunged him into a bout of depression that lasted from 1919 to 1922. Benson wrote during and after his years of illness, and his writing grew more meditative and spiritual in the aftermath of the World War I and his return to England. He never returned to his former health, though, and he suffered a severe heart attack on June 10, 1925 and died one week later. His brother E. F. Benson assembled a final collection of his essays, Rambles and Reflections, in 1926. That same year saw the appearance of Basil Netherby, a collection of allegorical tales of the supernatural, whose publication put him in the same literary league as his brothers Robert Hugh Benson and E. F. Benson, both of whom had distinguished themselves with books of supernatural horror fiction.