Jeffrey Archer facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids The Right Honourable The Lord Archer of Weston-super-Mare
Archer at Hatchards London in 2024

Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal
In office 27 July 1992 – 4 July 2024 Life peerage
Member of Parliament for Louth (Lincolnshire)
In office 4 December 1969 – 20 September 1974
Preceded by	Cyril Osborne
Succeeded by	Michael Brotherton

Personal details
Born	Jeffrey Howard Archer 15 April 1940 (1940-04-15) (age 85) London, England
Political party	Non-affiliated (since 2001)
Other political affiliations	Conservative (prior to 2001)
Spouse	Mary Weeden (m. 1966)
Children	2
Residences	London, England
Occupation	Politician, author
Writing career
Occupation	Novelist, short story writer, playwright
Period	1976–present
Genre	Thriller, drama

Jeffrey Howard Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare (born 15 April 1940) is an English novelist and former politician. He is well-known for his exciting thriller novels and short stories.

Archer was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Louth (Lincolnshire) from 1969 to 1974. He later became a successful author. His novel Kane and Abel (1979) is one of the best-selling books in the world, selling millions of copies. Overall, his books have sold more than 320 million copies worldwide.

He also served as the deputy chairman of the Conservative Party from 1985 to 1986. Later, he faced some legal challenges that led to the end of his active political career. He was made a life peer in 1992, which means he became a member of the House of Lords for life. He retired from the House of Lords on 4 July 2024.

Early Life and Education

Jeffrey Howard Archer was born in Holloway, London, on 15 April 1940. When he was two weeks old, his family moved to Somerset. They eventually settled in the seaside town of Weston-super-Mare, where Archer grew up.

As a boy, Archer dreamed of becoming the captain of the Bristol Rovers Football Club. He is still a big fan of the club today.

School Days

In 1951, Archer earned a scholarship to Wellington School in Somerset. His mother, Lola, worked as a journalist for the local newspaper, the Weston Mercury. She often wrote about Jeffrey in her weekly column, calling him 'Tuppence'. This made him famous locally but also led to some bullying at school.

Archer left school with good grades in English literature, art, and history. After school, he worked in different jobs. He trained with the army and spent a short time with the Metropolitan Police. He also worked as a physical education teacher at two different schools.

University at Oxford

In 1963, Archer was accepted into the University of Oxford to study for a teaching diploma. He became a member of Brasenose College.

At Oxford, Archer was very good at athletics. He competed in sprinting and hurdling. He even became the president of the Oxford University Athletic Club in 1965/6. He ran for England and once competed for Great Britain.

Archer also raised money for the charity Oxfam. He even got The Beatles to support a fundraising event. The band visited Brasenose College and were photographed with Archer.

Early Career and Politics

After leaving Oxford, Archer continued to work as a fundraiser for charities. He first worked for a medical charity that helped with safe childbirth. Then, he joined the United Nations Association (UNA) as their main fundraiser.

Around this time, Archer started his political career. He served as a Conservative councillor for Havering on the Greater London Council from 1967 to 1970.

In 1969, Archer started his own fundraising and public relations company. He also opened an art gallery called the Archer Gallery in Mayfair. The gallery focused on modern art. However, it lost money, and Archer sold it two years later.

Becoming a Member of Parliament

At 29 years old, Archer was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Lincolnshire area of Louth. He won the seat for the Conservative Party in a special election on 4 December 1969.

During his time as an MP, Archer was known for being on the more liberal side of the Conservative Party. He sometimes disagreed with his party's policies. For example, he supported free TV licences for elderly people. He was also against charging fees to enter museums.

Financial Challenges

In 1974, Archer faced serious financial problems. He lost a lot of money in a bad investment scheme. This left him almost £500,000 in debt. Because of these financial difficulties, he decided not to run for re-election in the October 1974 general election.

Writing Career Success

Archer started writing his first book, Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less, in late 1974. He hoped it would help him recover from his financial troubles. The book was published in 1976. It was later adapted for radio and television.

His book Kane and Abel (1979) became his most successful work. It reached number one on The New York Times bestsellers list. This book was also made into a television mini-series in 1985. Another of his bestsellers, First Among Equals, was adapted into a 10-part TV series in 1986.

Besides novels and short stories, Archer has also written three stage plays. His first play, Beyond Reasonable Doubt, opened in 1987 and ran for over a year in London.

Archer is known for spending a lot of time writing and rewriting each book. He often goes abroad to write the first draft. He then writes many more drafts, sometimes up to 17 in total. Since 2010, he has written the first draft of his new books at his villa in Mallorca.

In 2011, Archer began The Clifton Chronicles series. This series follows the life of a character named Harry Clifton from 1920 to 1993. The first book, Only Time Will Tell, was published in 2011. The seventh and final book in the series, This Was a Man, was published in 2016.

Over My Dead Body was published in October 2021. It is the fourth book in his series of thrillers featuring detective William Warwick. This book was very popular and became a New York Times bestseller.

Return to Politics and Later Events

Deputy Party Chairman

Archer's political career became active again in the 1980s. He was appointed deputy chairman of the Conservative Party in September 1985. He resigned from this role in October 1986 after a newspaper published accusations against him.

Legal Challenges

In 1987, Archer won a legal case against a newspaper that had made claims about him. He was awarded a large sum of money, which he said he would donate to charity. However, this case later led to further legal issues for him.

In 1999, Archer was chosen as the Conservative Party candidate for the London mayoral election of 2000. However, he withdrew his candidacy after it became known that he had not been truthful during his 1987 legal case. He was later removed from the Conservative Party for a period of five years.

In 2001, Archer faced a trial related to his earlier legal case. He was found responsible for misleading the court during the 1987 trial. This outcome effectively ended his active political career. He was released in 2003.

Life in Prison and Writings

While in prison, Archer wrote a three-volume memoir called A Prison Diary. Each volume was named after one of the prisons where he was held. His time in prison also inspired some of the short stories in his collection Cat O' Nine Tales.

In October 2002, Archer repaid the money he had received from the 1987 legal case, along with additional costs.

On 21 July 2003, Archer was released. He remained a member of the House of Lords, but he did not take an active part in parliamentary meetings until his retirement on 4 July 2024.

Personal Life

Jeffrey Archer has been married to Mary Weeden since July 1966. They met while studying at Oxford University. Mary Archer went on to become an expert in solar power.

They have two children: William Archer (born 1972), who is a theatrical producer, and James Archer (born 1974), who works in finance.

In 1979, the Archers bought the Old Vicarage, Grantchester, a famous house linked to the poet Rupert Brooke. Every summer, they host a large garden party there to celebrate their wedding anniversary.

Jeffrey Archer has stated that he is no longer interested in front-line politics and prefers to focus on his writing.

Archer in Fiction

Jeffrey Archer has been featured in fictional works. In the BBC drama Jeffrey Archer: The Truth (2002), he was humorously shown as a secret agent who saved Britain.

In the Amazon series Good Omens, a character jokes about the smell of Jeffrey Archer's books. Also, in the Doctor Who episode Silence in the Library, the Doctor mentions that a vast library contains many of Jeffrey Archer's books.

Works

Archer has published 42 works. These have been translated into 33 languages and have sold over 275 million copies combined.

Kane and Abel series

Kane and Abel (1979)
The Prodigal Daughter (1982)
Shall We Tell the President? (1986 - revised edition)

Clifton Chronicles

Only Time Will Tell (2011)
The Sins of the Father (2012)
Best Kept Secret (2013)
Be Careful What You Wish For (2014)
Mightier Than the Sword (2015)
Cometh The Hour (2016)
This Was a Man (2016)

William Warwick series

Nothing Ventured (2019)
Hidden in Plain Sight (2020)
Turn a Blind Eye (2021)
Over My Dead Body (2021)
Next in Line (2022)
Traitor's Gate (2023)
An Eye for an Eye (2024)

Other Novels

Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less (1976)
First Among Equals (1984)
A Matter of Honour (1986)
As the Crow Flies (1991)
Honour Among Thieves (1993)
The Fourth Estate (1996)
The Eleventh Commandment (1998)
Sons of Fortune (2002)
False Impression (2005)
The Gospel According to Judas by Benjamin Iscariot, with Francis J. Moloney (2007)
A Prisoner of Birth (2008)
Paths of Glory (2009)
Heads You Win (2018)

Short Stories and Collections

A Quiver Full of Arrows (including "Old Love") (1980)
A Twist in the Tale (1988)
Fools, Knaves, and Heroes: Great Political Short Stories Editor, Introduction. (1991)
Twelve Red Herrings (1994)
The Collected Short Stories (1997)
To Cut a Long Story Short (2000)
Cat O'Nine Tales (2006)
And Thereby Hangs a Tale (2010)
The New Collected Short Stories (2011)
The Jeffrey Archer Short Story Challenge Collection Editor, Contributor (Unique) (2013)
Four Warned (Quick Reads, 2014)
It Can't Be October Already (2017)
Tell Tale (2017)
The Short, the Long and the Tall (2020)

Plays

Beyond Reasonable Doubt (1987)
Exclusive (1989)
The Accused (2000)

Prison Diaries (Non-Fiction)

1. Hell — Belmarsh (2002)
2. Purgatory — Wayland (2003)
3. Heaven — North Sea Camp (2004)

For Children

By Royal Appointment (1980)
Willy Visits the Square World (1980)
Willy and the Killer Kipper (1981)
The First Miracle (1994)

Images for kids

Jeffrey Archer at Hatchards London in 2024