Alan Patrick Herbert biography at QuotationFun

A Short Biography of Sir Alan Patrick Herbert

Author Name:

Sir Alan Patrick Herbert

Born As:

Other Names:

Sir Alan Patrick Herbert, CH

Born:

24 Sep 1890

Died:

11 Nov 1971




author picture
Novelist, playwright and law reform activist                          
Selected Works:

The Secret Battle - 1919
The House by the River - 1921
The Water Gipsies - 1930
What a Word! - 1930
Holy Deadlock - 1934
Uncommon Law - 1935, Methuen
The Thames - 1966
Wigs at Work - 1966
Sundials Old and New; or, Fun with the Sun - 1967, Methuen
The Singing Swan: A Yachtman's Yarn - 1968
Independent Member, October 1970
A.P.H., His Life and Times - dedicated to My dear wife, for our 56th anniversary - 1970
More Uncommon Law - 1982

15 plays, including the light opera Tantivy Towers, and the comedy Bless the Bride - 1947 - 887 performances
What a Word! in 1935, continuing his campaign in Punch for better use of English, including a section on 'Plain English' more than a decade ahead of Sir Ernest Gowers'.
Author of the lyrics of the patriotic song Song of Liberty, set in 1940 to the music of Edward Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No. 4.

Sundials Old and New; or, Fun with the Sun - 1967
A.P.H., His Life and Times - dedicated to My dear wife, for our 56th anniversary - 1970.                          
Mother Beatrice Selwyn
Father Patrick Herbert                          
Member of Parliament for Oxford University for 15 years.

Giving his maiden speech on his second day in the House, he declared that he planned to introduce the Matrimonial Causes Bill, to reform divorce, and that he would have it passed before that Parliament was over, publishing the novel Holy Deadlock in 1934 to make his points humorously. 

It was passed, somewhat strengthened by the House of Lords, in 1938 as the Matrimonial Causes Act 1937. This allowed divorce without requiring proof of adultery. He also advocated reform of the gambling laws and the repeal of the entertainments tax, among other causes.