Robert Tressell facts for kids
Robert Noonan (born Robert Croker on 17 April 1870), better known by his pen name Robert Tressell, was an Irish writer. He is most famous for his novel, The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists.
Tressell spent his early working life in South Africa. There, he became interested in groups that helped workers and in socialist politics, which are ideas about making society fairer for everyone. He also met important people involved in Irish nationalism, a movement for Ireland's independence.
Later, he returned to England and worked as a painter and decorator in Hastings. During this time, he wrote his famous novel, probably between 1906 and 1910. The book is about how difficult life was for workers who were often treated unfairly. The famous writer George Orwell called it a wonderful book.
Contents
Robert Tressell's Early Life
Noonan was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1870. His father, Samuel Croker, was a former police inspector and a magistrate. Robert was raised as a Roman Catholic by his mother, Mary Noonan. His father, who was not Catholic, still tried to support Robert until he passed away in 1875.
By 1875, Noonan was living in London. Records from 1881 show him living with his stepfather in Islington, London. His daughter, Kathleen, said he had a very good education and could speak several languages. He might have even had the chance to go to Trinity College Dublin. Around age sixteen, he started to have strong political ideas. He left his family because he disagreed with how their money was earned. Around this time, he changed his last name to his mother's maiden name, Noonan.
Adult Life and Work
Life in South Africa
By 1891, Noonan had moved to Cape Town, the capital of Britain's Cape Colony. He worked there as a painter and decorator. In October 1891, he married Elizabeth Hartel, and their daughter, Kathleen, was born in September 1892.
Around 1894, Noonan moved to Johannesburg with Kathleen, who attended a convent boarding school. In Johannesburg, Noonan worked for a painting and decorating company called Herbert Evans. He seemed to have a good job as a foreman. During the 1890s, many groups tried to organize workers, especially British and other immigrant workers. One of these groups was the Trades and Labour Council. Noonan became involved in socialist politics in Johannesburg. He was chosen to be on the committee of a new group called the International Independent Labour Party. Through other members, he may have learned about the socialist ideas of writers like Robert Blatchford and William Morris. These thinkers influenced his own writing in The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists.
Noonan also became active in Irish Nationalist groups in South Africa. In 1898, he joined a committee that planned a celebration for the 100th anniversary of the Irish Rebellion of 1798. He worked with other Irish immigrants like Arthur Griffith and John MacBride. Noonan left Johannesburg shortly before the Boer War began.
From 1899 to 1901, Robert and Kathleen moved back to Cape Town. In September 1901, they left South Africa and sailed to England.
Life in England
When Noonan arrived in England, he started working as a painter in Hastings, Sussex. The wages were much lower, and the working conditions were much worse than what he had experienced in South Africa. Kathleen first went to boarding and convent schools. But in 1904, she moved to a public elementary school in Hastings.
Noonan worked for several building and decorating companies. He did decorative work in churches in the area. In 1905, he was fined for getting in the way of the police. Around this time, he also drew pictures for a book called The Evolution of the Airship. He even offered a model airship he designed to the War Office, but they did not accept it.
In 1906, he helped start the Hastings branch of the Social Democratic Federation, a political group that believed in socialist ideas. A photograph shows Noonan and his daughter at one of their outdoor meetings. He then began writing The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists. After a disagreement with his employer, he left his job and worked for another company. In 1909, Noonan moved to a flat in London Road, Hastings. His health started to get worse. In August 1910, he traveled to Liverpool to plan a move to Canada.
He used the pen name Robert Tressell because he was worried that his socialist views in the book would make it hard for him to find work. He chose "Tressell" as a play on "trestle table," a common tool for painters. He finished his book in 1910. It was a very long, handwritten manuscript, about 1,600 pages. Sadly, three publishing houses rejected it. This made him very sad, and his daughter had to stop him from burning the manuscript. She kept it safe in a metal box under her bed.
Robert Tressell's Death
Unhappy with his life in Britain, Robert decided he and Kathleen should move to Canada. However, he only made it to Liverpool. He was admitted to the Liverpool Royal Infirmary and passed away from tuberculosis on 3 February 1911, at the age of 40.
Noonan was buried in a simple grave on 10 February 1911, in Liverpool. The exact spot of his grave was not found again until 1970. Twelve other people were buried in the same plot. In 1977, local socialists and trade unions worked together to put up a memorial stone over the plot, listing the names of everyone buried there. The area is no longer a cemetery and is now used by Rice Lane City Farm. A nearby road is named Noonan Close in his honor.
In 2019, people honored Tressell with a march to his graveside, led by a brass band.
His Book Published After His Death
Kathleen mentioned her father's novel to a visitor, the writer Jessie Pope. Jessie Pope suggested it to her publisher, Grant Richards. In April 1914, the publisher bought the rights to the book for £25. It was published in Britain, Canada, and the United States later that year. It was also published in the Soviet Union in 1920 and in Germany in 1925. The first published version was much shorter because Jessie Pope had removed a lot of the socialist ideas. Later, the publisher, Grant Richards, said the book was "extraordinarily real" and "damnably subversive."
The original, complete manuscript was later found by F. C. Ball. After he raised money to get and put together the full version, an unabridged (complete) edition was published in 1955.
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists is believed to have played a part in the big Labour victory in 1945. It has been taught in schools and universities. It has also been made into plays, television shows, and radio programs. Parts of the book have even been read aloud at meetings for trade unions, which are groups that protect workers' rights.
Using Tressell's Name
Robert Tressell's name has been used over the years by different groups and places, especially in and around Hastings:
- The Robert Tressell Workshop – a publishing company in Hastings.
- Robert Tressell Close – a small street in Hastings named after him.
- Robert Tressell Walk – a street in Lincoln named after him.
- Tressell Ward – a political area in Hastings.
- The Robert Tressell Lectures – a series of yearly talks about his book and other left-wing political ideas.
- Tressell Publications – a small publishing company focused on politics.
- Robert Tressell Halls of Residence – student housing at the University of Brighton, Hastings Campus.
- Noonan's Steps – a stepped path next to his old home at 115 Milward Road.
- Tressell Ward – a medical ward in Conquest Hospital.
- Noonan Close – a street in Walton, Liverpool.
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