George Meredith English novelist and poet of the Victorian era was born in the busy naval town of Portsmouth on 12 February 1828, the only child of Augustus Urmston Meredith and his wife Jane Eliza (née Macnamara).
The name Meredith is Welsh, and he would describe himself as "half Irish and half Welsh" (on his mother's and father's sides, respectively). He was proud of his Welsh origins, and such pride is evident in his novels. His biographer Lionel Stevenson explains that Meredith's paternal grandfather, Melchizedek, would sometimes "boast eloquently of his princely forebears", but "between his immediate forebears and the legendary Welsh princes of seven centuries before, the history of the family remains obscure."
He attended St Paul’s School, Southsea, before he was sent to a boarding school in Suffolk. From 1842 onwards he attended the School of the Moravian Fathers in Neuwied, near Koblenz, on the Rhine.
In her biographical entry for George Meredith in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Margaret Harris speculates that it may have been the influence of his time at Neuwied which gave rise to his strong views on the need for women to be educated.
In 1844 he returned to England and took articles with Richard Stephen Charnock, a London solicitor. However, Meredith had little interest in the law and soon began to follow his inclination towards a literary career.
In 1849 whilst living in London, he met and married a young widow, Mary Ellen Nicolls, a contributor to the Monthly Observer. After a long honeymoon travelling in Europe the couple settled in rooms at ‘The Limes’, Weybridge. At first the marriage appeared to be happy, as reflected in Meredith’s debut publication Poems (1851).
However later, after the problems in his marriage came to a head, he tried to destroy all the privately published copies of this book. It was around this time Meredith decided to abandon his embryonic career in the law in favour of pursuing his literary ambition.
The couple became estranged and lived apart for a while but they attempted to continue the marriage. They had a son, Arthur Gryffydh, in 1853 and moved to ‘Vine Cottage’, Shepperton, but by 1857 their relationship broke down completely and Mary Ellen left to join the painter Henry Wallis in Wales. Meredith was an energetic man who often embarked on long walks with his friends. Following the breakdown of his marriage these took on a therapeutic role and among his walking companions were Algernon Swinburne and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. During the time he lived in Weybridge he met the Duff-Gordon family and it is possible that Janet Duff-Gordon was the distraction mentioned in Meredith’s poems in Modern Love (1862).
One of his most renowned works, "Modern Love," intricately depicts the complexities and breakdown of romantic relationships, establishing Meredith's reputation as a poignant observer of human emotion.
Meredith and his son Arthur moved to ‘Copsham Cottage’, Esher, in 1859. Mary Ellen died in 1861 and by 1864 he had found love again, remarried and settled into matrimonial life in Surrey. There he produced a number of novels and works of poetry, often drawing on the natural world. He had limited financial success, having to supplement his career working as a reader for a publishing establishmentas as a war correspondent and as a contributor to and editor of literary journals.
He was also a skilful essayist and lecturer, and his ‘Essay on Comedy’ was regarded as a brilliant and insightful piece of work. George Meredith is best known for his novels exploring social issues and psychological realism. His works often engage with themes of marriage, class, and the role of women in society.
Additionally Meredith composed a series of mythological poems that celebrate humanity's connection to nature, emphasizing a nearly pagan faith in the natural world and its regenerative powers.
Meredith's poetry, published across six volumes from 1862 to 1901, showcases approximately 130 poems that delve into themes of renewal, the cycle of life, and the interplay between man and nature. His style is noted for its intensity and complexity, often employing rich metaphors and intricate rhythms that invite deeper interpretation.
Critics have recognized his work for its innovative qualities, drawing comparisons to contemporaries like Gerard Manley Hopkins. Despite this, much of Meredith's poetry has remained underappreciated, with calls for a reevaluation of its artistic and philosophical depth.
Ultimately, Meredith's exploration of nature reflects a belief that understanding and communion with the natural world can lead to spiritual and emotional renewal, a theme that resonates throughout his poetic oeuvre. This multifaceted relationship with both love and nature positions Meredith as a pivotal figure in the landscape of late Victorian literature.
While his poetry never achieved the widespread popularity of his novels, it has been increasingly recognized for its unique voice and contribution to 19th-century poetics. His focus on individual consciousness and the complexities of human relationships paved the way for the development of modernist literature in the 20th century.
He published eighteen novels between 1856 and his death in 1909 and, although many had limited commercial and critical success,The Egoist (1879) and Diana of the Crossways (1885) were well received. he also produced such well known works as The Lark Ascending.
Nearly three decades later on the eve of the First World War, Ralph Vaughan Williams read George Meredith’s poem The Lark Ascending and heard, in his mind’s ear, this “Romance for violin and orchestra”. Then, like thousands of others, he laid music aside to serve in France. The Lark Ascending was finally premiered in 1921 at Queen’s Hall, London by the violinist Marie Hall and the conductor Adrian Boult.
It’s something unique – a virtuoso showpiece without a trace of superficial display. Poetry, purity and expressive beauty are all. Against a serene orchestral landscape, the solo violin becomes the bird, its song, and the spirit of Meredith’s poem:
He rises and begins to round,
He drops the silver chain of sound
Of many links without a break,
In chirrup, whistle, slur and shake…
For the literary critics of the future, Meredith's is work was often considered difficult to read, something that may have prevented him becoming the force that Charles Dickens enjoyed in the 20th Century.
It wasn’t until 1885 that he achieved his first real measure of success with his popular novel Diana of the Crossways.
However, his new found success came at a time of tragedy as his second wife, Marie, died of cancer shortly after publication. George Meredith’s own health was also beginning to fail. He had been fond of walking throughout his life but in middle age had contracted a muscle ataxia that was slowly beginning to take away his mobility.
He continued to write but did not produce anything as successful as Diana of the Crossways, though his literary reputation grew and he was respected as one of the leading writers of the time, often compared favorably to Thomas Hardy and Gustave Flaubert.
By inclination Meredith was a Liberal. He appears to have had some involvement in the local Liberal Association, when on the 30 March 1904, he wrote a letter to Mrs A.E. Fletcher of the Dorking Women’s Liberal Association that demonstrated his views on the equality of women and his support for the cause of women’s suffrage: “At this present time Women need encouragement to look upon affairs of national interest, and men should do their part in helping them to state publically what has been confined to the domestic circle – consequently a wasted force. That it can be a force men are beginning to feel.”
On 1 November 1906 Meredith wrote a lengthy letter (extracted below), to the editor of the Times on the subject of the increased militancy amongst female campaigners for suffrage: “Sir, Women, and for this they incur our severe disapprobation, are excitable. They desire to have the suffrage; to that end they storm the House of Commons and clamour for the right to assist in voting for members of the august Assembly. It was unwise on their part; a breach in good manners, an error of judgement, proof that they have not yet learnt how to deal with men. For until men have been well shaken at home, and taught that woman is a force to be reckoned with, they will not only resolutely bar the fortress they hold against feminine assailants, they will punish offenders sharply.”
It is clear that Meredith’s writing was held in high regard and was even recognised by militant suffrage campaigners (even though he opposed militancy as a tactic) as crucial in building support for the women’s campaign for the vote. Following the arrest of fifty suffrage protesters, including Emmeline Pankhurst, at a demonstration in the House of Commons during February 1908, the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) held a Women’s Parliament.
The Times reported on 13 February 1908 that the sessions were held and decisions reached and it is interesting that the members present decided to send birthday greetings to George Meredith, in acknowledgement that “many ladies engaged in literary pursuits were among the prisoners. It was decided to send a birthday greeting to Mr George Meredith and an expression of gratitude for his lifetime championship of the women’s cause.”
Meredith’s influence was not only significant to the national campaign for suffrage but his endorsement was important to local campaigners too. During the last few months of his life Meredith continued to give the Women’s Suffrage campaign support and encouragement.
On 4 March 1909, the Times reported that a letter from George Meredith was read at a women’s suffrage “At Home” meeting, held in Mickleham. The newspaper’s correspondent commented that Meredith advised seekers of votes for women to follow the example of Mrs Fawcett and Mrs Garrett Anderson “who preserved the rule of good manners and understood how the cause was to be won. The combative suffragists played the enemy’s game. I hold that in spite of much to be said in opposition the exercise of the vote will gradually enlarge the scope of women’s minds. Men who would confine them to the domestic circle are constantly complaining of their narrowness. Women have to contend with illogical creatures. The vote will come in time and for a time there is likely to be a swamping of Liberalism and a strengthening of ecclesiastical pretentions that will pass with the enlargement of women’s minds in a new atmosphere.”
Meredith, together with a number of prominent men in the political, scientific, literary, artistic, theological and sporting spheres, signed a “Declaration by men in support of women’s suffrage”.
The petitioners were listed in the Times (23 March 1909) and had among them some notable Surrey figures including Gerald Balfour, Sir William Chance, Wilmot P Herringham, Sir Robert Hunter, David Lloyd George, J.M. Barrie, Edwin Lutyens, Halsey Ralph Riccardo, Henry Holliday, K.J. Key (late captain of Surrey Cricket Club), and the publisher, T. Fisher Unwin. Image of George Meredith in his donkey ‘chaise’, with his dog, Sandy, nd (from J.A. Hammerton,
After a brief illness, due to contracting a chill during an outing in his donkey cart on 14 May 1909, George Meredith died at Box Hill. His death was announced in the Times on the 19 May. A longer article about Meredith was published in the same issue.
The following day the front page of Common Cause (the official magazine of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies, NUWSS), carried the news of his death and a tribute to him (20 May 1909): “George Meredith is dead. The news dwarfs all other. No one has a deeper influence on the thought of the present century than he, and quite peculiarly this thought, affecting ideals of womanhood, has helped on women to freer expression. Not even Mill has done so much, because Mill lacked the two supreme resources of poetic imagination and the comic spirit. Through youthful enthusiasm for Meredith many men have been led to see male prerogative in its ugly nakedness; through sweetening laughter, they have been helped to abandon it. And women, with loyalty and courage shewn them as womanly virtues, have felt their lives enlarged and raised. The petals of his wild cherry are snowing down, but they will come again next year, and in the hearts and minds of English people his work will live. George Meredith is not dead.”
The Times reported Meredith’s funeral in Dorking and the subsequent memorial service at Westminster Abbey in great detail on the 24 May 1909. The correspondent noted that amongst the wreaths was one from the NUWSS carrying the words “In grateful remembrance. True poets and true women have the native sense of the divineness of what to the world seems gross material substance”.
Mrs Millicent Garrett Fawcett, the Leatherhead Liberal Association and the Leatherhead Women’s Liberal Association also sent wreaths. Following cremation at Woking Crematorium, his ashes were laid to rest beside his wife, Marie, in Dorking cemetery.
On the 24 May 1909 at the AGM of the Reigate and Redhill Women’s Suffrage Society, Margaret Crosfield spoke of the great loss sustained by suffragists as a result of the death of one of the movements’ famous advocates, the Surrey resident and novelist, George Meredith.
As we step into the warm and vibrant days of July, let's celebrate its beauty with the evocative words of George Meredith. Here in his enchanting poem July, Meredith sings the praises of this warm summer month.
George Meredith -July
Blue July, bright July,
Month of storms and gorgeous blue;
Violet lightnings o’er thy sky,
Heavy falls of drenching dew;
Summer crown! o’er glen and glade
Shrinking hyacinths in their shade;
I welcome thee with all thy pride,
I love thee like an Eastern bride.
Though all the singing days are done
As in those climes that clasp the sun;
Though the cuckoo in his throat
Leaves to the dove his last twin note;
Come to me with thy lustrous eye,
Golden-dawning oriently,
Come with all thy shining blooms,
Thy rich red rose and rolling glooms.
Though the cuckoo doth but sing ‘cuk, cuk,’
And the dove alone doth coo;
Though the cushat spins her coo-r-roo, r-r-roo –
To the cuckoo’s halting ‘cuk.’
Sweet July, warm July!
Month when mosses near the stream,
Soft green mosses thick and shy,
Are a rapture and a dream.
Summer Queen! whose foot the fern
Fades beneath while chestnuts burn;
I welcome thee with thy fierce love,
Gloom below and gleam above.
Though all the forest trees hang dumb,
With dense leafiness o’ercome;
Though the nightingale and thrush,
Pipe not from the bough or bush;
Come to me with thy lustrous eye,
Azure-melting westerly,
The raptures of thy face unfold,
And welcome in thy robes of gold!
Tho’ the nightingale broods—
’sweet-chuck-sweet’ –
And the ouzel flutes so chill,
Tho’ the throstle gives but one shrilly trill
To the nightingale’s ‘sweet-sweet.’
© 𝐷𝑒𝑙𝑝ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑢𝑚 by Yoksel Zok
