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Francis Neilson | |
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 | |
| Member of Parliament forHyde | |
| In office 1910–1916 | |
| Preceded by | Charles Duncan Schwann |
| Succeeded by | Owen Jacobsen |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1867-01-26)26 January 1867 Birkenhead,England |
| Died | (1961-04-13)13 April 1961 Port Washington,Long Island,New York. |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Spouse | Helen Swift |
Francis Neilson (26 January 1867 – 13 April 1961) was an accomplished British-born American actor, playwright and stage director. He was also a political figure and former member of theBritish House of Commons. An avid lecturer, Neilson was an author of more than 60 books, plays and opera librettos and the most active leader in theGeorgist movement.[1]
BornFrancis Butters, the eldest of nine siblings, in Claughton Road,Birkenhead, England, he was the son of aShropshire father, Francis Turley Butters and a Scottish mother fromDundee, Isabella Neilson Hume. He attended theLiverpool Institute for Boys. Several accounts explain that because of his large family, Neilson left school at the age of fourteen and moved to the United States at the age of eighteen. Nevertheless, the British Census of 1881 records the Butters' household as having 12 people, including 8 children and two maids. The census also records Francis Butters (Neilson's father) as a restaurant keeper.
In the United States, after arriving in New York City, and paying fifteen dollars for ahansom cab ride from the docks to his guest house, Neilson worked several odd jobs which included alongshoreman, a labourer inCentral Park (years later he lived at theSavoy-Plaza Hotel, overlooking that park), and some clerical work.[2] After meeting an African-American man surnamed Johnson, who because of his colour worked as a porter despite his college degree,[2] Neilson became fascinated with education and at times "…went hungry to buy books". This fascination led him toHenry George, of whom he became a devoted follower.
During his stay in the United States, he married Catherine O'Gorman; they had two daughters, Isabel and Marion. Isabel Neilson, an accomplished sculptor, marriedPrince Hermann of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Count of Ostheim, in 1932 and became Countess of Ostheim, and Marion Neilson married Captain Hugh Melville,Sam Browne's Cavalry.[3]
Neilson's first success came in the following years after his discovery ofHenry George's teachings, where he became well known and respected for his writing, acting, and directing. He providedVictor Herbert with a libretto forPrince Ananias commissioned by the theater companyThe Bostonians which debuted in 1894. TheInternet Broadway Database, records him as a director ofThe Little Princess in January 1903, first at theCriterion Theatre and later at the Savoy Theatre; and as the playwright ofA Butterfly on The Wheel in January 1912, at the 39th Street Theatre.
In New York, he befriended directorAnton Seidl who took him to Germany and introduced him toRichard Wagner's family inBayreuth. This led him out of the United States and back to London. He came back to London as a stage director forCharles Frohman at theDuke of York's Theatre. Later Neilson was invited to direct the national opera atCovent Garden, which he remodelled completely in 1900. The first opera to be produced there wasPuccini'sTosca. Puccini himself was at the theatre supervising the production. The encounter of the two men triggered an interest that took Neilson to invite Puccini to see a private performance of the playMadame Butterfly, playing then at the Duke of York's Theatre.Puccini later requested Neilson to direct the opera atLa Scala in Milan; however, this never came to pass due to Neilson's other commitments.
In the early 1900s, he began his pursuit of politics. His first bid for a parliamentary seat was for theNewport Division ofShropshire in1906; he lost to the Conservative incumbent, William Kenyon-Slaney, by a margin of 176 votes. He was also unsuccessful in the1908 Newport by-election.
He was elected as Member of Parliament for the constituency ofHyde in Cheshire in1910. During his time in parliament, he was well acquainted with both Prime Ministers:Asquith andLloyd George. Interested in radical politics, he entered in the progress of theLand Values Movement.
His multiple contributions to the liberal agenda made him frequent the Liberal Headquarters, at Parliament Street, and tour the country giving speeches in support ofLiberal Party candidates. He resigned from parliament in 1916 after his pacifist beliefs conflicted with theFirst World War.
He returned to the United States, where he became a citizen in 1921 and began pursuing his writing career.
In the US, he metHelen Swift, an heiress of the Swift Meat Packing Business and the widow ofEdward Morris, President of Morris & Company, another meat packing company. They were married in 1917. Together, they endowed many charities, and contributed to many institutions, including theUniversity of Chicago,Ripon College,Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, theArchaeological Institute of America, theLiverpool Cathedral, andBoston Museum of Fine Arts.
His antiwar bookHow Diplomats Make War (1915) went through several printings and translations. He went on to write over sixty books, along with many other forms of writing such as articles, plays, and an opera. Neilson co-edited a journal of opinion and literary criticism, titledThe Freeman between 1920 and 1924.[citation needed]
In 1935, as President of the Chicago Chapter of theArchaeological Institute of America and in co-ordination with theUniversity of Liverpool, he organised and endowed an archaeological expedition to theNear East, to research lands of biblical time. ArchaeologistJohn Garstang, at the age of sixty, was enthusiastically in charge of the excavations, with much success at the site of the port ofMersin in southern Turkey.
On October 6, 1949, the Francis Neilson Trust Fund was founded "for the promotion and encouragement of education in the cultural arts and sciences among the choirboys and members of the Cross Guild under the age of twenty one and for the costs and expenses in the promotion of special services sanctioned by the Dean."[4]
A few years before his death, Neilson lost his sight. He was assisted in writing his last book,Ur to Nazareth, by his literary secretary, K. Phyllis Evans. Neilson also wrote a two-volume autobiography,My Life in Two Worlds.
Neilson was a benefactor of theMetropolitan Museum of Art, to which he donated antiquities and several paintings, includingA Winter Carnival in a Small Flemish Town,Portrait of a Man, Possibly George Frederick Handel, andThe Pelkus Gate near Utrecht. Neilson's late wife,Helen Swift Neilson, had bequeathedPortrait of a Young Woman with a Fan, byRembrandt, for which she had paid $250,000 in 1930;Rembrandt Harmensz (Dutch, 1606–1669); thePortrait of Mrs. Thomas Pechell, and1799. TheBoston Museum of Fine Arts was givenJohn Singer Sargent's paintingA Capriote.
Liverpool Cathedral also received support from Neilson in the form of a collection of Organ and Choral Works which he sponsored; the organ at the Cathedral also bears his name. The Francis Neilson Trust supports music and choristers at the cathedral.
Francis Neilson died, aged 94, on 13 April 1961 inPort Washington,Long Island, New York. He was cremated and his remains interred at Liverpool Cathedral.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forHyde 1910–1916 | Succeeded by |
