J. L. Carr
Encyclopedia
Joseph Lloyd Carr; who called himself "Jim" or even "James," was an English novelist
British literature
British Literature refers to literature associated with the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and Channel Islands. By far the largest part of British literature is written in the English language, but there are bodies of written works in Latin, Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Scots, Cornish, Manx, Jèrriais,...

, publisher, teacher, and eccentric.

Biography

Carr was born in Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

, into a family of Wesleyan
John Wesley
John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...

 Methodists. His father Joseph, the eleventh son of a farmer, rejected farming as a career and went to work for the railways, eventually becoming a station master for the North Eastern Railway
North Eastern Railway (UK)
The North Eastern Railway , was an English railway company. It was incorporated in 1854, when four existing companies were combined, and was absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway at the Grouping in 1923...

. Carr was given the same Christian name as his father and the middle name Lloyd, after David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...

, the Liberal prime minister. He adopted the names Jim and James in adulthood. His brother Raymond, who was also a station master, called him Lloyd.

Carr's early life was shaped by failure. He attended the village school at Carlton Miniott, Yorkshire. He failed the scholarship exam, which denied him a grammar school education, and on finishing his school career he also failed to gain admission to teacher training college. Interviewed at Goldsmiths' College, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 he was asked why he wanted to be a teacher. Carr answered: "Because it leaves so much time for other pursuits." He was not accepted. Over forty years later, after his novel The Harpole Report
The Harpole Report
The Harpole Report is the third novel by J. L. Carr, published in 1972. The novel tells the story mostly in the form of a school log book kept by George Harpole, temporary Head Teacher of the Church of England primary school of "Tampling St. Nicholas". The novel has attained a minor cult status...

was a critical and popular success, he was invited to give a talk at Goldsmiths'. He replied that the college once had its chance of being addressed by him.

He worked for a year as an unqualified teacher - one of the lowest of the low in English education - at South Milford
South Milford
South Milford is a small village and civil parish located in the district of Selby, in the county of North Yorkshire, England. Historically an agricultural village, the population has recently boomed due to housing development...

 Primary School, where he became involved in a local amateur football team which was startlingly successful that year. This experience he developed into the novel How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won the F.A. Cup
How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won the F.A. Cup
How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won the F.A. Cup is the fourth novel by J.L. Carr, published in 1975. The novel is a comic fantasy that describes in the form of an official history how a village football club progressed through the FA Cup to beat Glasgow Rangers F.C. in the final at Wembley...

. He then successfully applied to a teacher training college in Dudley. In 1938 he took a year out from his teaching career to work as an exchange teacher in Huron, South Dakota
Huron, South Dakota
Huron is a city in Beadle County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 12,592 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Beadle County. Huron was the home of now-defunct Huron University since 1897. Huron is also the home of the South Dakota State Fair...

 in the Great Plains
Great Plains
The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...

. Much of the year was a struggle to survive in what was a strangely different culture to him; his British salary converted into dollars was pitifully inadequate to meet American costs of living. This experience gave rise to his novel The Battle of Pollocks Crossing
The Battle of Pollocks Crossing
The Battle of Pollocks Crossing is the sixth novel by J.L. Carr, published in 1985. The novel was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1985 and followed a nomination in 1980 for A Month in the Country, his preceding novel....

.

At the end of his year in the USA Carr continued his journey westward and found himself travelling through the Middle East and the Mediterranean as the Second World War loomed. He arrived in France in September 1939 and reached England, where he volunteered for service in the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

. He was trained as an RAF photographer and stationed in West Africa, later serving in Britain as an intelligence officer, an experience he translated into fiction with A Season in Sinji
A Season in Sinji
A Season in Sinji is the second novel by J.L. Carr, published in 1967. The novel is set mostly at fictional RAF Sinji in west Africa during the Second World War and features a bizarre cricket match....

.

At the end of the War he married Sally (Hilda Gladys Sexton) and returned to teaching. He was appointed headmaster of Highfields Primary School in Kettering
Kettering
Kettering is a market town in the Borough of Kettering, Northamptonshire, England. It is situated about from London. Kettering is mainly situated on the west side of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene which meets at Wellingborough...

, a post he filled from 1952 to 1967 in a typically idiosyncratic way which earned the devotion of staff and pupils alike. He returned to Huron, South Dakota
Huron, South Dakota
Huron is a city in Beadle County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 12,592 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Beadle County. Huron was the home of now-defunct Huron University since 1897. Huron is also the home of the South Dakota State Fair...

 in 1957 to teach again on an exchange visit, when he wrote and published himself a social history of The Old Timers
The Old Timers
The Old Timers is a rare, privately printed book published in 1957 by the school teacher, map-maker, publisher and author J.L. Carr during his second visit to teach at a public school in Huron, South Dakota, U.S.A....

of Beadle County.

In 1967, having written two novels, he retired from teaching to devote himself to writing. He produced and published from his own Quince Tree Press
The Quince Tree Press
The Quince Tree Press is the imprint established in 1966 by J. L. Carr to publish his maps, pocket books and novels. The Press is now run by his son Robert Carr and his wife, Jane.- History of the press :...

 a series of 'small books' designed to fit into a pocket: some of them selections from English poets, others brief monographs about historical events, or works of reference. In order to encourage children to read, each of the "small books" was given two prices, the lower of which applied only to children. As a result, Carr received several letters from adults in deliberately childish writing in an attempt to secure the discount.

He also carried on a single-handed campaign to preserve and restore the parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....

 of St Faith at Newton in the Willows
Newton, Northamptonshire
Newton, sometimes called Newton in the Willows, is a small village in the Ise valley, Kettering, Northamptonshire. The village is in the civil parish of Newton and Little Oakley which had a population at the 2001 census of 147...

, which had been vandalised and was threatened with redundancy. Carr, who appointed himself its guardian, came into conflict with the vicar of the benefice, and higher church authorities, in his attempts to save the church. The building was saved, but his crusade was also a failure in that redundancy was not averted and the building is now a scientific study centre.

In 1986 Carr was interviewed by Vogue
Vogue (British magazine)
The British edition of Vogue is a fashion magazine that has been published since 1916.When British Vogue was launched, it was the first overseas edition of an existing fashion magazine. Under the magazine's first editor, Elspeth Champcommunal, the magazine was essentially the same as the American...

 magazine and, as a writer of dictionaries, was asked for a dictionary definition of himself. He answered: "James Lloyd Carr, a back-bedroom publisher of large maps and small books who, in old age, unexpectedly wrote six novels which, although highly thought of by a small band of literary supporters and by himself, were properly disregarded by the Literary World".

Jim Carr died of leukaemia in Northamptonshire on 26 February 1994 aged 82 years.

Works

When Carr gave up teaching in 1967 his aim was to try to make his living by publishing small books of poetry and by designing a series of maps of English counties which were to be read and discussed, rather than to provide navigational information. These he published himself under the imprint The Quince Tree Press
The Quince Tree Press
The Quince Tree Press is the imprint established in 1966 by J. L. Carr to publish his maps, pocket books and novels. The Press is now run by his son Robert Carr and his wife, Jane.- History of the press :...

, The original printing plates from several of these maps were mounted on sheets of plywood
Plywood
Plywood is a type of manufactured timber made from thin sheets of wood veneer. It is one of the most widely used wood products. It is flexible, inexpensive, workable, re-usable, and can usually be locally manufactured...

 and used by Carr as "stepping stones" in his garden. The garden also contained statues he had carved himself, many of which had mirrors set into the stone, set at such an angle that the sun would shine through the windows on his birthday.

Carr wrote eight short novels which contain elements of comedy and fantasy, as well as darker passages, based on his varied experiences of life as teacher, traveller, cricketer, footballer, publisher and restorer of English heritage. All eight were published by different publishers, apart from the last two, which he published under his own imprint, The Quince Tree Press
The Quince Tree Press
The Quince Tree Press is the imprint established in 1966 by J. L. Carr to publish his maps, pocket books and novels. The Press is now run by his son Robert Carr and his wife, Jane.- History of the press :...

. Though many of the characters and incidents, and even much of the dialogue, are drawn from life, he always takes them just a little further into the comic. He is widely regarded as a master of the novella
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...

 form, and his masterpiece A Month in the Country was nominated for the Booker Prize in 1980, when it won the Guardian Fiction Prize. In 1985 he was short-listed again for the Booker Prize for The Battle of Pollocks Crossing.

Two of his novels have been filmed: A Month in the Country
A Month in the Country (film)
A Month in the Country is a 1987 British film directed by Pat O'Connor. The film is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by J. L. Carr, and stars Colin Firth, Kenneth Branagh, Natasha Richardson and Patrick Malahide...

(1987) and A Day in Summer
A Day in Summer
A Day in Summer is the first novel by J.L. Carr, published in 1963. The story is set in the fictional village of Great Minden where Peplow arrives to seek retribution for the death of his son....

(1989).

Carr wrote several non-fiction works which he published at his Quince Tree Press, including a dictionary of cricketers, a dictionary of parsons, and dictionaries of English kings and queens. He also provided the text for several school textbooks published by Macmillan Publishers
Macmillan Publishers
Macmillan Publishers Ltd, also known as The Macmillan Group, is a privately held international publishing company owned by Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. It has offices in 41 countries worldwide and operates in more than thirty others.-History:...

 and Longman
Longman
Longman was a publishing company founded in London, England in 1724. It is now an imprint of Pearson Education.-Beginnings:The Longman company was founded by Thomas Longman , the son of Ezekiel Longman , a gentleman of Bristol. Thomas was apprenticed in 1716 to John Osborn, a London bookseller, and...

 which were designed to develop children's English language skills.

Novels

  • A Day in Summer
    A Day in Summer
    A Day in Summer is the first novel by J.L. Carr, published in 1963. The story is set in the fictional village of Great Minden where Peplow arrives to seek retribution for the death of his son....

    (1963). London: Barrie and Rockliff.
  • A Season in Sinji
    A Season in Sinji
    A Season in Sinji is the second novel by J.L. Carr, published in 1967. The novel is set mostly at fictional RAF Sinji in west Africa during the Second World War and features a bizarre cricket match....

    (1967). London: Alan Ross.
  • The Harpole Report
    The Harpole Report
    The Harpole Report is the third novel by J. L. Carr, published in 1972. The novel tells the story mostly in the form of a school log book kept by George Harpole, temporary Head Teacher of the Church of England primary school of "Tampling St. Nicholas". The novel has attained a minor cult status...

    (1972). London: Secker & Warburg. ISBN 0 436 08610 7
  • How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won the F.A. Cup
    How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won the F.A. Cup
    How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won the F.A. Cup is the fourth novel by J.L. Carr, published in 1975. The novel is a comic fantasy that describes in the form of an official history how a village football club progressed through the FA Cup to beat Glasgow Rangers F.C. in the final at Wembley...

    (1975). London: London Magazine Editions. ISBN 0 904388 02 6
  • A Month in the Country (1980). Brighton, Sussex: The Harvester Press. ISBN 0 85527 328 3
  • The Battle of Pollocks Crossing
    The Battle of Pollocks Crossing
    The Battle of Pollocks Crossing is the sixth novel by J.L. Carr, published in 1985. The novel was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1985 and followed a nomination in 1980 for A Month in the Country, his preceding novel....

    (1985). London: Viking. ISBN 0 670 80559 9
  • What Hetty Did
    What Hetty Did
    What Hetty Did is the seventh novel by J.L. Carr, published in 1988 when he was 76 years old. The novel describes the experiences of an 18 year old girl...

    (1988). Kettering: The Quince Tree Press
    The Quince Tree Press
    The Quince Tree Press is the imprint established in 1966 by J. L. Carr to publish his maps, pocket books and novels. The Press is now run by his son Robert Carr and his wife, Jane.- History of the press :...

    . ISBN 0 900847 91 3
  • Harpole & Foxberrow General Publishers
    Harpole & Foxberrow General Publishers
    Harpole & Foxberrow General Publishers is the eighth and last novel by J.L. Carr, published in 1992, just after his 80th birthday. The narrator of the story is Hetty Beauchamp, the heroine of What Hetty Did, who describes how George Harpole and Emma Foxberrow returned from working at a...

    (1992). Kettering: The Quince Tree Press
    The Quince Tree Press
    The Quince Tree Press is the imprint established in 1966 by J. L. Carr to publish his maps, pocket books and novels. The Press is now run by his son Robert Carr and his wife, Jane.- History of the press :...

    . ISBN 0 900847 93 X

Social history

  • The Old Timers
    The Old Timers
    The Old Timers is a rare, privately printed book published in 1957 by the school teacher, map-maker, publisher and author J.L. Carr during his second visit to teach at a public school in Huron, South Dakota, U.S.A....

    : A social history of the home-steading pioneers in the prairie states during the first few years of settlement, as shown by a typical community, the "Old-Timers" of Beadle County in South Dakota
    (1957). Huron, South Dakota: Privately Printed.

Children's language books

  • J.L. Carr (1970). The Red Windcheater, Nippers series, pp 32. Illustrated by George Adamson. London: Macmillan. ISBN 0333264746
  • J.L. Carr (1972). The Garage Mechanic, What do they do? series, pp 32. Illustrated by Chris Mayger. London: Macmillan. ISBN 0333120647
  • J.L. Carr (1972). The Dustman, What do they do? series, pp 31. Illustrated by Michael Shoebridge. London: Macmillan. ISBN 0333122763
  • J.L. Carr (1974). The Old Farm Cart, Language in Action series, level 3, pp 24. Illustrated by Richard Butler. London: Macmillan. ISBN 0333166019
  • J.L. Carr (1974). Red Foal's Coat, Language in Action series, level 2, pp 24. Illustrated by Susan Richards. London: Macmillan. ISBN 0333165950
  • Jim Carr (1976). An Ear-ring for Anna Beer, Language in Action series, level 3, pp 24. Illustrated by Trevor Ridley. London: Macmillan. ISBN 0333199545
  • J.L. Carr (1976). The Green Children of the Woods, Whizz bang series, pp 32. Illustrated by Bill Sanderson. London: Longman. ISBN 0582193265
  • Jim Carr (1980). Gone with the Whirlwind, Language in Action series, level 4, pp 48. Illustrated by Ken Evans. London: Macmillan. ISBN 0333283899

Dictionaries

  • J.L. Carr (1977). Carr's Dictionary of Extra-ordinary English cricketers. Kettering: The Quince Tree Press
    The Quince Tree Press
    The Quince Tree Press is the imprint established in 1966 by J. L. Carr to publish his maps, pocket books and novels. The Press is now run by his son Robert Carr and his wife, Jane.- History of the press :...

    . (126 entries)
  • J.L. Carr (1977). Carr's Dictionary of English Queens, Kings' Wives, Celebrated Paramours, Handfast Spouses and Royal Changelings. Kettering: The Quince Tree Press
    The Quince Tree Press
    The Quince Tree Press is the imprint established in 1966 by J. L. Carr to publish his maps, pocket books and novels. The Press is now run by his son Robert Carr and his wife, Jane.- History of the press :...

    . (91 entries)
  • J.L. Carr (1979?). Carr's Dictionary of English Kings, Consorts, Pretenders, Usurpers, Unnatural Claimants and Royal Athelings. Kettering: The Quince Tree Press
    The Quince Tree Press
    The Quince Tree Press is the imprint established in 1966 by J. L. Carr to publish his maps, pocket books and novels. The Press is now run by his son Robert Carr and his wife, Jane.- History of the press :...

    . (107 entries)
  • J.L. Carr (198?).Carr's Dictionary of Extra-ordinary English cricketers, Volume 2. Kettering: The Quince Tree Press
    The Quince Tree Press
    The Quince Tree Press is the imprint established in 1966 by J. L. Carr to publish his maps, pocket books and novels. The Press is now run by his son Robert Carr and his wife, Jane.- History of the press :...

    . (80 entries)
  • J.L. Carr (198?). Welbourn's Dictionary of Prelates, Parsons, Vergers, Wardens, Sidesmen and Preachers, Sunday-school teachers, Hermits, Ecclesiastical Flower-arrangers, Fifth Monarchy Men and False Prophets. Kettering: The Quince Tree Press
    The Quince Tree Press
    The Quince Tree Press is the imprint established in 1966 by J. L. Carr to publish his maps, pocket books and novels. The Press is now run by his son Robert Carr and his wife, Jane.- History of the press :...

    . (129 entries) No. 84.
  • J.L. Carr (1983). Carr's Illustrated Dictionary of Extra-ordinary Cricketers. London: Quartet Books.
  • J.L. Carr (1985). Gidner's Brief Lives of the Frontier. Kettering: The Quince Tree Press
    The Quince Tree Press
    The Quince Tree Press is the imprint established in 1966 by J. L. Carr to publish his maps, pocket books and novels. The Press is now run by his son Robert Carr and his wife, Jane.- History of the press :...

    . (88 entries). Published to coincide with the issue of The Battle of Pollocks Crossing
    The Battle of Pollocks Crossing
    The Battle of Pollocks Crossing is the sixth novel by J.L. Carr, published in 1985. The novel was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1985 and followed a nomination in 1980 for A Month in the Country, his preceding novel....

    .

Other writings

  • J.L. Carr (1981). The Poor Man's Guide to the Revolution of 1381. Kettering: The Quince Tree Press
    The Quince Tree Press
    The Quince Tree Press is the imprint established in 1966 by J. L. Carr to publish his maps, pocket books and novels. The Press is now run by his son Robert Carr and his wife, Jane.- History of the press :...

    .
  • J.L. Carr (Undated). Forefathers. A brief essay on Anglo-Norse carvings. Kettering: The Quince Tree Press
    The Quince Tree Press
    The Quince Tree Press is the imprint established in 1966 by J. L. Carr to publish his maps, pocket books and novels. The Press is now run by his son Robert Carr and his wife, Jane.- History of the press :...

    .
  • J.L. Carr (1982). Justice Silence, now blind, wits wandering a little and very old, is visited by Sir John Falstaff's page, now a man, and asked for news of Francis Feeble, the woman's tailor, once unfairly conscripted for the army during rebellion. In: Shakespeare Stories, ed. Giles Gordon
    Giles Gordon
    Giles Alexander Esmé Gordon was a Scottish literary agent and writer, based for most of his career in London....

    . London: Hamish Hamilton, pages 82–90. ISBN 0241108799.
  • J.L. Carr (1987). An inventory and history of The Quince Tree Press to mark its 21st year and the sale of its 500,000th small book. August, 1987. Kettering: The Quince Tree Press
    The Quince Tree Press
    The Quince Tree Press is the imprint established in 1966 by J. L. Carr to publish his maps, pocket books and novels. The Press is now run by his son Robert Carr and his wife, Jane.- History of the press :...

    .
  • J.L. Carr (1990). The first Saturday in May. In: Fine Glances. A Connoisseur's Cricket Anthology, eds Tom Graveney
    Tom Graveney
    Thomas William Graveney in Riding Mill, Northumberland, is a former English cricketer and was the President of the Marylebone Cricket Club for 2004/5. He went to Bristol Grammar School...

    , Mike Seabrook. London: Simon and Schuster, pages 21–25. ISBN 0671710257
  • J.L. Carr (1990). Looking for Lord. In: My Lord's. A Celebration of the World's Greatest Cricket Ground, ed. Tim Heald. London: Willow Books, Haper Collins, pages 15–19. ISBN 0002183633.
  • J.L. Carr (1990). Redundant Churches Fund. Churches in retirement. A gazetteer. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, Foreword, pages ix-x. ISBN 0117014524
  • J.L. Carr (1993). Cricket books, 1992. In: Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
    Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
    Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...

     1993
    , ed Matthew Engel
    Matthew Engel
    Matthew Lewis Engel is a British writer and editor who began his career in 1972. He worked on The Guardian newspaper for nearly 25 years, reporting on a wide range of political and sporting events including a stint as Washington correspondent beginning on 9/11. He now writes a column in the...

    . Guildford, Surrey: John Wisden, pages 1295 - 1306. ISBN 0 947766 20 0.
  • J.L. Carr (1994). Some early poems and recent drawings by J.L. Carr 1912 - 1994. Bury St Edmunds: The Quince Tree Press
    The Quince Tree Press
    The Quince Tree Press is the imprint established in 1966 by J. L. Carr to publish his maps, pocket books and novels. The Press is now run by his son Robert Carr and his wife, Jane.- History of the press :...

    .

Biography

  • Byron Rogers
    Byron Rogers (author)
    Byron Rogers is a Welsh journalist, essayist and biographer. In August, 2007 the University of Edinburgh awarded him the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for the best biography published in the previous year, for The Man Who Went Into the West: The Life of RS Thomas...

     (2003). The Last Englishman: a biography of J. L. Carr. London: Aurum Press
    Aurum Press
    Aurum Press is an independent English publishing house located in London. It was founded in 1976. Aurum concentrates on non-fiction titles and publishes approximately 75 new books every year. One of its titles in 2009 will be the biography of Neville Staple, vocalist in The Specials, Fun Boy...

    . ISBN 1854108387

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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