Gerald Massey
Gerald Massey (1828-1907) was a multifaceted English poet, political activist, literary critic, and religious historian known for his contributions to various fields, including radical politics and spiritualism. Born in Tring, Hertfordshire, to an impoverished family, Massey had limited formal education but was largely self-taught, developing a significant interest in literature and politics from an early age. His poetry began to gain recognition with works published in local newspapers and eventually led to his first collection, "Poems and Chansons," in 1848.
A committed advocate for the working class, Massey was involved with the Chartist movement and the Christian Socialist Board. His literary career blossomed with the success of "The Ballad of Babe Christabel," which established him as a prominent poet. He later shifted his focus to exploring occult and religious themes, producing influential works such as "The Natural Genesis" and "Ancient Egypt, the Light of the World."
Massey experienced personal tragedies, including the death of his first wife, Rosina, and later remarried Eva Byron. Despite criticism regarding the perceived naivety of his works, Massey has seen a revival of interest in the 21st century, with many of his writings being re-released and his life documented in biographies. His collected papers are preserved at Upper Norwood Library in London, reflecting his legacy as a "writer of the people."
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Subject Terms
Gerald Massey
Poet
- Born: May 29, 1828
- Birthplace: Gamble's Wharf, outside Tring, Hertfordshire, England
- Died: October 29, 1907
- Place of death: Redcot, South Norwood Hill, London, England
Biography
The career of Gerald Massey defies easy categorization, since Massey published works in poetry, radical politics, literary criticism, and iconoclastic religious history, achieving a degree of fame in all these fields. Thomas Gerald Massey was born on May 29, 1828, the eldest son of William and Mary Massey. His father was an impoverished canal boatman. After a brief education at a “penny school” for a few terms, Massey went to work at the age of eight in his hometown of Tring, Hertfordshire, England.
Self-taught in the Bible, John Bunyan, and the few other materials at his disposal, Massey at fifteen moved to London to work as an errand boy; there he read more widely, especially in the area of politics, and taught himself French. The first poem definitely attributed to him, “At Eventide There Shall Be Light,” was published in a local newspaper when he was eighteen. His first volume of poems, Poems and Chansons, was privately printed in 1848.
Moved by the plight of the working class, Massey wrote for the Chartist movement, joined the Christian Socialist Board, and published poems in The Christian Socialist and the Red Republican. He married Rosina Jane Knowles in 1850; the couple had four children. Rosina’s career as a noted medium undoubtedly influenced Massey’s later interest in spiritualist writing.
In 1854, Massey’s greatest success as a poet came with the publication of The Ballad of Babe Christabel, with Other Lyrical Poems; this success also brought a position as a reviewer for the Athenaeum. After living and writing for a time in Edinburgh, Scotland, Massey with his family moved back to Hertfordshire, where he received a civil-list pension of seventy pounds a year in 1863 (later increased to a hundred) and published a book on William Shakespeare’s sonnets. Massey’s wife died in 1866. In January 1868 he married Eva Byron, with whom he had five more children. The best of his earlier poems Massey collected as My Lyrical Life: Poems Old and New (1889).
Having traveled and lectured extensively throughout North America and Australia, Massey began to publish his popular lectures on occult and religious history. His most notable works in this regard are The Natural Genesis (2 volumes) and Ancient Egypt, the Light of the World (2 volumes). The latter was published just before Massey’s death on October 29, 1907, at Redcot, South Norwood Hill, London.
Massey’s work has enjoyed a resurgence of interest in the twenty-first century; for example, almost all of his poetry and scholarly writing has been rereleased. Furthermore, in 1995, David Shaw’s biography, Gerald Massey: Chartist, Poet, Radical, and Freethinker, was published. Massey’s collected papers are held at Upper Norwood Library, London.
The general critical consensus on Massey is that his work, although vigorous and fluent, is also overly naïve, lacking the rigor brought about by a more systematic education. For better or for worse, he remains truly a writer “of the people.”