Richard Rumbold ( 1913-1961), Author, rebel and
thinker
A short tribute by William Cross, FSA Scot
Richard Rumbold was born on 24 June 1913, the second
of the three children of Charles Edmund Arden Law Rumbold (1872–1943), an
army officer, and Anne Christian
(1881–1928). There was an elder brother who died at birth and he had a
sister, Rosemary, three years younger, who pre-deceased him.
Richard’s bullying father Charles
is at the centre of his autobiographical book ‘My Father's Son’ (1947), published
under the pseudonym Richard Lumford, the book is a harrowing account of Richard’s unhappy childhood.
To add to the gloom Richard’s mother, Anne, committed
suicide.
According to Richard’s entry in the ODNB by his friend
Raleigh Trevelyan ( 1923-2014) ( text used in part below):
Richard Rumbold in front ( left) with Richard Aldington
“ Rumbold was
handsome and physically well built, with blue eyes. His father attacked him
constantly for 'effeminacy', and regarded intellectuals as 'half-baked'.
Richard attended various schools, in England, France,
and Germany
Richard went up to Christ Church, Oxford, where he revived
and ran a literary club, arranging talks by such personalities as Lord
Alfred Douglas, Frieda Lawrence and W. B. Yeats.
Brought up as a Roman Catholic, in 1933 Richard
created a storm when he published a novel, ‘Little Victims’. The
book hit hard at the Catholic Church, his parents, public-school homosexuality,
and Oxford
Richard was diagnosed with tuberculosis and left Oxford
During the Second World War Richard was a private in
the Royal Army Service Corps, but soon transferred to the Royal Air
Force. He was exhilarated by the experience of his training as a pilot, not
only the flying but the sense of comradeship.
Again as per the ODNB [Richard had a] “deeply serious, longing for the true love he
could never achieve.” He began
treatment for schizophrenia and edited a collection of Flaubert's letters
in 1950... “He took up riding a motorcycle, at tremendous speeds. His ecstatic
discovery of flying led to a biography of Saint-Exupéry, ‘The Winged
Life’ (1953), written in collaboration with Lady Margaret Stewart.
Hilda Young accompanied Richard to Ceylon, where
he hoped to find 'sensual liberation and spiritual reconciliation'. His
interest in Buddhism took him to Japan
In the 1960s Rumbold went to Sicily 10 March 1961 , at a hotel in Palermo
Richard Rumbold is buried in the graveyard of the Anglican Church of Watton-on-Stone
“ [An] idealist, ceaselessly searching for a faith for
his idealism, and for inner peace'.
Extracts from his diaries, with some meditations on
Zen, were edited and published by his cousin, the poet, William Plomer in ‘ A Message
in Code’ (1964).
Anecdotes about Richard Rumbold feature in the books
of several literary figures including Harold Nicolson, Cecil Roberts, James
Lees-Milne and Robin Bryans. Evan Morgan’s biographer William Cross has a
chapter on Rumbold and his overlaps with
Evan Morgan in the book “ Not Behind Lace Curtains, The Hidden World of Evan, Viscount Tredegar” (
2013).
William Cross, FSA Scot
Posted on Richard Rumbold’s birthday, 24 June 2018 .
Feel free to contact William Cross by e-mail for a copy of Raleigh
Richard ( pictured left) hosts a reception at Oxford in 1932
Richard Rumbold's friend, Lord Alfred ( Bosie) Douglas
Richard Rumbold's Guests At The Oxford English Club, including the lesbian- writer Radclyffe Hall ( John) in 1933
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E-MAIL REMINDER FOR WILLIAM CROSS
SEE ALSO THE TWITTER ACCOUNT DEDICATED TO RICHARD RUMBOLD
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