Alfred Austin

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In his Autobiography, Austin gives a curious account of his first meeting with his future wife, Hester Mulock-Homan. Seeing the photograph of a young lady in an album belonging to a friend in Florence, he had asked: ‘Who is that?’ and received the reply, ‘The girl you ought to marry, if you can.’ Austin brought home a letter of introduction, the presentation of which led to his receiving at his cottage in Hertfordshire two of the Misses Mulock and their chaperon, together with their friend TA Trollope, brother of Anthony. At the second visit Hester became engaged to Alfred. Throughout his career as journalist and writer Austin derived constant help and support from his wife. She died suddenly on 23rd September 1929 at her residence in Kensington. [Source: Obituaries, The Times, 24th September 1929]

The nephew of railway engineer and MP, Joseph Locke, Alfred Austin was born on 30th May 1835, at Headingly, near Leeds. Following study at London University, (Oxford & Cambridge was almost impossible to enter, because of his Roman Catholic faith) he was called to the Bar of the Inner Temple in 1851. Between 1866-1896 he was a Foreign Affairs Correspondent with the London Standard, and served as a special correspondent to The Ecumenical Council of the Vatican in 1870; at the Headquarters of the King of Prussia during the Franco-Prussian War, 1870; at the Congress of Berlin, 1878 where he was granted an audience by German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. In 1883 he co-founded the National Review with W J Courthope and served as joint-editor until 1893 and sole editor until 1896.

As a pot Austin never ranked highly in the opinions of his peers, often derided as being a ‘Banjo Byron’. In 1896 he was appointed Poet Laureate in succession to Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Many saw this as a political rather than literary appointment, due to Austin’s steadfast support for Disraeli and his personal friend Lord Salisbury, the Prime Minister. Austin continued to serve as Poet Laureate until his death in 1913. During his lifetime Austin served as Deputy-Lieutenant for the county of Hereford. [Source: Obituaries, The Times, 3rd June 1913]

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