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Edward Thomas - biography

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Date Published: 13 August 2012

If the war goes on I believe I shall find myself a sort of Englishman, though neither poet or soldier'
- Letter to Walter de la Mare, 30th August 1914

Philip Edward Thomas (1878-1917) was born in Lambeth, London in 1878, of Welsh descent. He was educated at St Paul's College and then Lincoln College at the University of Oxford, where he studied history. A prolific writer of prose (including biographies of Richard Jefferies, Swinburne, and Keats), and a moderately successful journalist, his work concentrated on the image of England and the countryside. Thomas suffered from severe bouts of depression and recurrent psychological breakdowns, feeling creatively repressed by the endless reviews and ill-paid commissions he had to do to support himself and his family. Although happier with his writings on countryside that mixed observation, information, literary criticism, self-reflection and portraiture, Thomas still

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Philip Edward Thomas was born in London in 1878, the oldest of Welsh parents. Born with talent, young Thomas produced essays on rural topics that were featured in weekly papers. He was educated at Lincoln College, Oxford. While at Oxford, he met his wife, Helen Noble, and his son Merfyn, was born before he graduated. After graduating, he became a literary critic, as well as a poet, editor, and writer. Thomas and his wife also had two more children, daughters Bronwen and Myfanwy. Although he was chronically depressed, he accomplished an incredible amount of work, and was the first to recognize up and coming new poets, such as Ezra Pound and Robert Frost. In 1914, he was first introduced to Robert Frost, who encouraged him to try and write poetry as well. Thomas joined the Artist’s Rifle in 1915, during the first world war. Thomas’ unit moved forward to Flanders, but in on April 9, 1917, Thomas was killed by a shell that exploded near him on the first day of the Battle of Arras. During his life, he had gone by the pen name of Edward Eastaway, and had six poems published

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Edward Thomas (1878 – 1917)

Edward Thomas was known during his lifetime as a critic, essayist and writer of books about the countryside. Born in London, his happiest days as a youth were spent either wandering over the commons of South London or with relatives in the countryside near Swindon. Wiltshire was to remain his favourite county. 

As a schoolboy, Thomas was encouraged to write by James Ashcroft Noble, who had recognised the boy’s talent and was himself a distinguished man of letters and a neighbour. At Noble’s home, Thomas met and fell in love with Helen Noble, whom he subsequently married while still an undergraduate at Oxford University. After gaining a second-class degree in History, he decided to pursue a career as a writer, having been encouraged by the publication of some nature essays and especially his first book, The Woodland Life.

That decision, opposed by his father, led to years of poorly paid prose writing, both books and journalism. Life was a struggle for Helen, the three children and himself. Undoubtedly, this contributed to sporadi

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