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Jerome K. Jerome Biography

A comprehensive biography of Jerome K. Jerome, his childhood

& life

Quick Facts

Famous as Author

Nationality Briton

Born on 02 May 1859

Zodiac Sign Taurus

Born in Walsall

Died on 14 June 1927

Place of death Northampton

Father Jerome Clapp Jerome

Mother Marguerite Jones

Siblings Paulina Deodata, Blandina Dominica, Milton

Melancthon

Spouse: Georgina Elizabeth Henr ietta Stanley Marris

Children Elsie, Rowena

Education St Marylebone Grammar School

Works &

Achievements

Three men in a Boat(1889)


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Jerome Klapka Jerome was a renowned English writer and

humorist. He is best known for his humorous and comic

masterpiece Three Men in a Boat, apart from his other notable

works of literature. He was born on 2nd May, 1859 in Caldmore,Walsall, England, and was raised amidst poverty in London. His

other works include the essay collections like the Idle Thoughts

of an Idle Fellow and Second Thoughts of an Idle Fellow,

Three Men on the Bummel- which was a sequel to Three Men

in a Boat; and several other novels. Jerome died at the age of

68 on 14th June, 1927.

Jerome K Jerome Childhood

Jerome Klapka Jerome was born on 2 May, 1859 in Belsize

House, Bradford Street, Walsall, and Stradffordshire, England.

He was born to father Jerome Clapp Jerome and mother

Marguerite Jones. While his father was a non-conformist lay

preacher, ironmonger and architect by profession and his

mother was a daughter of a solicitor. Jerome was their fourthchild. He had two sisters, Paulina Deodata, Blandina Dominica

and Brother Milton Melancthon. Jerome lost his father at an

early age of fourteen.

Initially Jerome was registered as Jerome Clap Jerome and later

his name was amended as Klapka. Jerome faced a lot of poverty

due to bad investment in the local mining industry and debt

collectors were frequent visitors in their house. Jerome later

described his experiences of childhood in his autobiography My

Life and Times (1926).

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Education and Early Life

Jerome lost his father at the age of 13 and he lost his mother at

the age of 15. As a young boy Jerome always wanted to join

politics and become a member of parliament but due to the crisis

at home front, he was forced to quit his studies and find work tosupport his living. He studied at the Philological School later

known as Marylebone but he had to leave his school for doing a

job at the London and North Western Railway. Initially his work

was all about collecting coal and he continued doing it for four

years.

Acting Career

Jeromes acting career was inspired by his older sister

Blandina's love for the theatre in 1877. Jerome started his

acting career under the stage name Harold Crichton. He joined

a repertory troupe and produced low budget plays with meagre

resources. He produced such plays for three years and at the

age of 21, he decided to end his theatre career. He then tried

his hands in becoming a very a journalist, wrote essays, satires

and short stories and over the next few years, but most of these

were rejected. Over the next few years he served as a school

teacher, a packer, and a solicitor's clerk. He tasted success as

an actor finally in 1885, with his play On the Stage.

Writing Career

His writing career started with his collection of humorous essays

Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow published in 1886. Jerome wrote

his most famous work of literature Three Men in a Boat after his

return from his honeymoon on a boat in river Thames. Soon

after its publication in 1889 it went on to become an instant hit.

The two main Protagonists in the novel were replaced by his

friends George Wingrave (George) and Carl Hentschel (Harris).

He created a comic situation in the book which was no way

related or remotely connected to the history of the Thames

region. With its publication, the number of boats went upto fifty


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percent following its publication. Within twenty years, the book

sold over a million copies and was later adapted to movies, TV

and radio shows, stage plays, and even a musical. His style of

writing influenced many humorists and satirists in England.

Later, he went on to write many plays, novels and essay but

they were not as successful as his book T hree Men in a Boat. In

1892, he edited the Idler. In 1893, he founded To-Day but had to

stop its publication because of an ongoing financial crisis and a

libel suit against him. In 1898, during his short stay at Germany,

he wrote Three Men on the Bummel which was a sequel to

Three Men in a Boat. In 1902, he published the novel, Paul

Kelver, which is considered an autobiographical and wrote the

play The Passing of the Third Floor Back in 1908.Jerome

published his autobiography, My Life and Times in 1926. The

Borough of Walsall gave him the title Freeman of the Borough.

World War I

Jerome volunteered to offer his service during World War I at 56

years of age. The British Army considered him too old and

rejected him on the basis of his age.

Marriage

Jerome got married to Georgina Elizabeth Henrietta Stanley

Marris (Ettie), who was a divorcee. She had a daughter from her

previous marriage of five years named Elsie. Jeromes step-

daughter died in 1921.

Death

Jerome spent most of his last days at his farmhouse in Ewelme

near Wallingford. He died of stroke and a cerebral haemorrhage

at the age of 68 on 14 June, 1927 in Northampton, England.

He was cremated at Golders Green and his ashes were buriedat St Mary's Church, Ewelme, and Oxfordshire alongside his

wife, sister and step-daughter.

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His Novels

Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow (1886)

Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) (1889)

Diary of a Pilgrimage (and Six Essays) (1891) (ful l text)

Novel Notes (1893)

Second Thoughts of an Idle Fellow (1898)

Three Men on the Bummel (aka Three Men on Wheels)

(1900)

Paul Kelver, a novel (1902)

Tommy and Co (1904)

They and I (1909)

All Roads Lead to Calvary (1919)

Anthony John (1923)The Love of Ulrich Nebendahl (1909)

The Philosopher's Joke (1909)

Collections

Told after Supper (1891)

John Ingerfield: And Other Stories (1894)

Sketches in Lavender, Blue and Green (1895)

The Observations of Henry (1901)The Angel and the Author and Others (1904)

American Wives and Others (1904)

The Passing of the Third Floor Back: And Other Stories

(1907)

Malvina of Brittany (1916)

Three Men in a Boat and Three Men on the Bummel

(1974)After Supper Ghost Stories: And Other Tales (1985)

His Autobiography

My Life and Times (1926)

Anthologies

Great Short Stories of Detection, Mystery and Horror 1st

Series (1928)

A Century of Humour (1934)

The Mammoth Book of Thrillers, Ghosts and Mysteries

(1936)


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Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1957)

Famous Monster Tales (1967)

The 5th Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories (1969)

The Rivals of Frankenstein (1975)

The 17th Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories (1981)

Stories in the Dark (1984)

Gaslit Nightmares (1988)

Horror Stories (1988)

100 Tiny Tales of Terror (1996)

Knights of Madness: Further Comic Tales of Fantasy

(1998)

100 Hilarious Little Howlers (1999)

Short StoriesThe Haunted Mill (1891)

The New Utopia (1891)

The Dancing Partner (1893)

Evergreens

Christmas Eve in the Blue Chamber

Silhouettes

The Skeleton

The Snake

The Woman of the Saeter

His Plays

The Maister of Wood Barrow: play in three acts (1890)

The Night of 14 Feb (1899) : a play in nine scenes

Miss Hobbs: a comedy in four acts (1902) - starringEvelyn Millard

Fanny and the Servant Problem, a quite possible play in

four acts (1909)

The Master of Mrs. Chilvers: an improbable comedy,

imagined by Jerome K. Jerome (1911)

The Soul of Nicholas Snyders: A Mystery Play In Three

Acts (1925)The Celebrity: a play in three acts (1926)

Robina's Web ("The Dovecote", or "The grey feather"): a

farce i


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The Passing of the Third Floor Back (1908)

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