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Gilbert Keith Chesterton (29 May 1874 – 14 June 1936) better known asG. K. Chesterton, was an English writer, lay theologian, poet, philosopher, dramatist, journalist, orator, literary and art critic, biographer, and Christian apologist.^[1]

Biography

G. K. Chesterton is Notable.

Gilbert Keith Chesterton was born in Campden Hill in Kensington, London, the son ofMary Louise, née Grosjean, andEdward Chesterton.^[1] His birth was registered during the 2nd Quarter of 1874 in the Kensington Registration District, London.^[2]

Gilbert was baptised into the Church of England; however, his parents occasionally practised Unitarianism, and Chesterton himself said that he became deeply fascinated with the occult and Ouija boards.^[3] (He entered full communion with the Catholic Church in 1922.)

In 1881, Gilbert lived with his parents, Edward and Mary L. Chesterton and his younger brother,Cecil at 11 Warwick Garden, Kensington, Middlesex, England. Edward worked as an auctioneer, while Gilbert was a scholar.^[4]

He appeared on the 1891 census in Ventnor, Hampshire, England with his parents and younger brother, although Gilbert K is described as a 'pupil at St Paul's School, London'.^[5]

In 1901, Chesterton marriedFrances Alice Blogg in the Kensington Registration District.^[6] Although the couple remained married until his death in 1936, they were never able to have children. G K Chesterton appeared regularly in the Battersea section of the London Electoral Registers. He appeared on the 1911 census, self-describing as a 'journalist and author' in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England with his wife, his cousin, and two servants.^[7]

Chesterton andWinston Churchill were two of the first who were patriotically anti-Nazi policies regarding Jewish people. Chesterton also condemned the idea of eugenics in his bookEugenics and Other Evils. Although the Mental Deficiency Act 1913 was in the process of being drafted, he said that the wording was too vague and could be applied to innocent persons.

G K Chesterton's signature

He was a member of 'The Detection Club', a society of British mystery authors, and became its president in 1930. Some of the authors wereAgatha Christie,Dorothy L Sayers, andHugh Walpole.

1932 saw the beginning of Chesterton's career with the BBC, giving over 40 talks per year. He was allowed to improvise on the scripts, and the talks became very popular.

G K Chesterton wrote 80 books, several hundred poems, 200 short stories, 4,000 essays and newspaper columns, and several plays. He also wrote articles for theEncyclopaedia Britannica, including the article onCharles Dickens. His works were noted for their wit, humour, and paradox, and no topics were safe from his critical reviews, including (but not limited to), the world, politics, economics, theology and many more. He frequently disagreed with the views of close friendsOscar Wilde andGeorge Bernard Shaw - but Chesterton loved to take part in a debate. One of his well-known quotes is

"Oscar Wilde said that sunsets were not valued because we could not pay for sunsets. But Oscar Wilde was wrong; we can pay for sunsets. We can pay for them by not being Oscar Wilde."

His death (of congestive heart failure) was registered at the Amersham Registration District, Buckinghamshire, during the 2nd Quarter of 1936, age 66.^[8] A requiem mass in Westminster Cathedral, London, was followed by a burial in the Catholic Cemetery in Beaconsfield. His estate was valued at £28,389 (which is £1,943,135 in 2019's money).

Bibliography

For complete bibliography, please seefreespace page

• Five Types (essays), selected from Twelve Types. (1910)
• William Blake (1910)
• Alarms and Discursions (1910)
• What's Wrong With the World (1910)
• Appreciations and Criticisms of the Works of Charles Dickens (1911)
• The Ballad of the White Horse (poetry) (1911)
• The Wit and Wisdom of GK Chesterton (1911)
• The Innocence of Father Brown (stories) (1911)
• A Chesterton Calendar. Compiled from the Writings of G.K.C. (Calendar) (1911)
• Manalive (novel) (1912)
• A Miscellany of Men (1912)
• Simplicity and Tolstoy (1912)
• Magic (play) (1913)
• The Victorian Age in Literature (1913)
• The Flying Inn (novel) (1914)
• The Wisdom of Father Brown (stories) (1914)
• Trial of John Jasper, Lay Precentor of Cloisterham Cathedral in the County of Kent, for the Murder of Edwin Drood (1914)
• London (1914)
• The Barbarism of Berlin (1914)
• Poems (1915)
• Wine, Water and Song (poetry) (1915)
• The Appetite of Tyranny (1915)
• The Crimes of England (1915)
• Divorce vs. Democracy (1916)
• The Book of Job (1916)
• A Shilling for My Thoughts (1916)
• Temperance and The Great Alliance (pamphlet) (1916)
• Utopia of Usurers (1917)
• Lord Kitchener (1917)
• A Short History of England (1917)
• How to Help Annexation (1918)
• Irish Impressions (1919)

Sources

1. ↑^1.01.1Wikipedia entry for G. K. Chesterton
2. ↑ "England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2XZ9-9PK : 1 October 2014), Gilbert Keith Chesterton, 1874; from "England & Wales Births, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Birth Registration, Kensington, London, England, citing General Register Office, Southport, England. 1874: Volume 1A; Page 164; Line Number 227.
3. ↑ 'The Autobiography', G K Chesterton 1936
4. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1881," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q27S-BG27 : 10 December 2017), Gilbert K Chesterton in household of Edward Chesterton, Kensington, London,Middlesex, England; from "1881 England, Scotland and Wales Census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing p. 17, Piece/Folio 24/52, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey; FHL microfilm 101,774,318.
5. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1891," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:4Q6F-4N2 : 22 February 2021), Gilbert K Chesterton in household of Edward Chesterton, Ventnor, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom; from "1891 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 12, Hampshire county, subdistrict, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
6. ↑ England & Wales marriage registration: Kensington [district], Volume 1a, Page 275, June quarter 1901, Gilbert Keith CHESTERTON and Frances Alice BLOGG
7. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1911," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X7V2-JGG : 22 July 2019), Gilbert Keith Chesterton, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom; from "1911 England and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 14, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
8. ↑ "England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVHK-ZZR9 : 4 September 2014), Gilbert K Chesterton, 1936; from "England & Wales Deaths, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Death, Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England, General Register Office, Southport, England. 1936: Volume 3A; Page 1169; Line Number 92

See Also:

• G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) on Find A Grave:Memorial #8965688 retrieved 29 May 2018

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