Ronald Gow
Encyclopedia
Ronald Gow was an English drama
tist, best known for Love on the Dole
(1934).
Born in Heaton Moor
, Stockport
, Cheshire
, the son of a bank manager, Gow attended Altrincham County High School
. After training as a chemist, he returned to his old school as a teacher. In the late 1920s he made several educational silent films with his pupils: The People of the Axe (1926) and The People of the Lake (1928) recreated life in ancient Britain, the latter produced 'with the approval of' Sir William Boyd Dawkins
; The Man Who Changed His Mind (1928) was a Boy Scout
adventure with a cameo from Robert Baden-Powell
; The Glittering Sword (1929) was a medieval parable about disarmament.
Writing occupied his spare time during his years as a schoolmaster, and he wrote several plays for the BBC
. At the age of 35 he had his first professional production, in London, with Gallow's Glorious (1933), a play about the American slavery abolitionist John Brown
.
In 1934 he wrote Love on the Dole
, based on Walter Greenwood's
novel about unemployment
in Salford during the Great Depression
– the play was a huge success. Wendy Hiller
played the lead in the play, and also made her first film appearance in the Gow-scripted Lancashire Luck
.
In 1937 Hiller and Gow married. They later moved to Beaconsfield
, Buckinghamshire
, where they had two children, Ann (1939–2006) and Anthony (b. 1942). They lived at their home, "Spindles", until Gow's death in 1993. He continued writing plays into his eighties, providing material for his wife in adaptations of Tess of the D'Urbervilles
(1946), which was a great success while Ann Veronica
(1949) quickly proved a commercial failure. His other adaptations include Vita Sackville-West's
The Edwardians and A Boston Story (1966), based on Henry James'
Watch and Ward
.
English drama
Drama was introduced to England from Europe by the Romans, and auditoriums were constructed across the country for this purpose. By the medieval period, the mummers' plays had developed, a form of early street theatre associated with the Morris dance, concentrating on themes such as Saint George...
tist, best known for Love on the Dole
Love on the Dole
Love on the Dole is a novel by Walter Greenwood, about working class poverty in 1930s Northern England. It has been made into both a play and a film.-The novel:...
(1934).
Born in Heaton Moor
Heaton Moor
Heaton Moor is a suburb located in Stockport, Greater Manchester, in North West England. It is one of the Four Heatons and borders onto Heaton Chapel, Heaton Norris and Heaton Mersey...
, Stockport
Stockport
Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on elevated ground southeast of Manchester city centre, at the point where the rivers Goyt and Tame join and create the River Mersey. Stockport is the largest settlement in the metropolitan borough of the same name...
, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, the son of a bank manager, Gow attended Altrincham County High School
Altrincham Grammar School For Boys
-Admissions:The school is non-fee paying with admission via an entrance exam. It had foundation school status which allowed a degree of independence from the local education authority, but from 2011 under the UK Government's Free School Programme it attained Academy status.-Foundation:The school...
. After training as a chemist, he returned to his old school as a teacher. In the late 1920s he made several educational silent films with his pupils: The People of the Axe (1926) and The People of the Lake (1928) recreated life in ancient Britain, the latter produced 'with the approval of' Sir William Boyd Dawkins
William Boyd Dawkins
Professor Sir William Boyd Dawkins, FRS, KBE was a British geologist and archaeologist. He was a member of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, Curator of the Manchester Museum and Professor of Geology at Owens College, Manchester. He is noted for his research on fossils and the antiquity of man...
; The Man Who Changed His Mind (1928) was a Boy Scout
Boy Scout
A Scout is a boy or a girl, usually 11 to 18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement. Because of the large age and development span, many Scouting associations have split this age group into a junior and a senior section...
adventure with a cameo from Robert Baden-Powell
Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell
Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, Bt, OM, GCMG, GCVO, KCB , also known as B-P or Lord Baden-Powell, was a lieutenant-general in the British Army, writer, and founder of the Scout Movement....
; The Glittering Sword (1929) was a medieval parable about disarmament.
Writing occupied his spare time during his years as a schoolmaster, and he wrote several plays for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. At the age of 35 he had his first professional production, in London, with Gallow's Glorious (1933), a play about the American slavery abolitionist John Brown
John Brown (abolitionist)
John Brown was an American revolutionary abolitionist, who in the 1850s advocated and practiced armed insurrection as a means to abolish slavery in the United States. He led the Pottawatomie Massacre during which five men were killed, in 1856 in Bleeding Kansas, and made his name in the...
.
In 1934 he wrote Love on the Dole
Love on the Dole
Love on the Dole is a novel by Walter Greenwood, about working class poverty in 1930s Northern England. It has been made into both a play and a film.-The novel:...
, based on Walter Greenwood's
Walter Greenwood
Walter Greenwood was an English novelist, best known for the socially influential novel Love on the Dole .-Biography:...
novel about unemployment
Unemployment
Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
in Salford during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
– the play was a huge success. Wendy Hiller
Wendy Hiller
Dame Wendy Margaret Hiller DBE was an Academy Award-winning English film and stage actress, who enjoyed a varied acting career that spanned nearly sixty years. The writer Joel Hirschorn, in his 1984 compilation Rating the Movie Stars, described her as "a no-nonsense actress who literally took...
played the lead in the play, and also made her first film appearance in the Gow-scripted Lancashire Luck
Lancashire Luck
Lancashire Luck is a 1937 British film comedy, directed by Henry Cass. It is notable as the film debut of Wendy Hiller, and the first credited appearance of Nigel Stock.-Plot:...
.
In 1937 Hiller and Gow married. They later moved to Beaconsfield
Beaconsfield
Beaconsfield is a market town and civil parish operating as a town council within the South Bucks district in Buckinghamshire, England. It lies northwest of Charing Cross in Central London, and south-east of the county town of Aylesbury...
, Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, where they had two children, Ann (1939–2006) and Anthony (b. 1942). They lived at their home, "Spindles", until Gow's death in 1993. He continued writing plays into his eighties, providing material for his wife in adaptations of Tess of the D'Urbervilles
Tess of the d'Urbervilles
Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented, also known as Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman, Tess of the d'Urbervilles or just Tess, is a novel by Thomas Hardy, first published in 1891. It initially appeared in a censored and serialised version, published by the British...
(1946), which was a great success while Ann Veronica
Ann Veronica
Ann Veronica is a novel by H.G. Wells first published in 1909. The book deals with contemporary political issues, concentrating specifically on feminist issues...
(1949) quickly proved a commercial failure. His other adaptations include Vita Sackville-West's
Vita Sackville-West
The Hon Victoria Mary Sackville-West, Lady Nicolson, CH , best known as Vita Sackville-West, was an English author, poet and gardener. She won the Hawthornden Prize in 1927 and 1933...
The Edwardians and A Boston Story (1966), based on Henry James'
Henry James
Henry James, OM was an American-born writer, regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. He was the son of Henry James, Sr., a clergyman, and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James....
Watch and Ward
Watch and Ward
For another meaning of Watch and Ward see:WatchmanWatch and Ward is a short novel by Henry James, first published as a serial in The Atlantic Monthly in 1871 and later as a book in 1878. This was James' first attempt at a novel, though he virtually disowned the book later in life...
.
External links
- http://openlibrary.org/a/OL1933331A/Ronald-GowRonald Gow profile at the Open LibraryOpen LibraryOpen Library is an online project intended to create “one web page for every book ever published”. Open Library is a project of the non-profit Internet Archive and has been funded in part by a grant from the California State Library and the Kahle/Austin Foundation.-Books for the blind and...
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