A New Book By Ron Wawman..
The story of The Squarson of Lewtrenchard
As revealed in
The Diary of Sabine Baring-Gould
Grosvenor House Publishing Ltd
ISBN No: 978-1-907211-03-4
This book includes a full transcription of the diary of the Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould, together with family bible entries and selected information gleaned from notebooks and letters, as well as Ron’s own conclusions on many aspects of Sabine’s extraordinary life.
In the late 19th century, the Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould, squarson of Lewtrenchard and man of many parts, was recognised as one of the country’s top ten authors. Today he is mostly remembered for his famous hymn, Onward Christian Soldiers, and, in popular publications, he is often dismissed as an irascible eccentric who did not know his own children, married a mill girl half his age and kept a pet bat! Although he wrote two volumes of Reminiscences these are mostly about his ancestors, places he visited and people he met. Very little is about himself and his family. Until recently the difficulties facing would-be biographers have been compounded by a dearth of unpublished material in the shape of diaries and letters.
With the discovery of a twenty-year diary covering the period when Sabine was at the height of his powers all that has changed. Ron Wawman’s transcription and researches have enabled him to put forward some exciting, new perceptions of the life and character of this important Devonian.
These perceptions gave Ron, a retired psychiatrist cum local historian and playwright, the story line that had previously eluded him and he was then able to write the script for the biographical Community play Like A Buoy that in 2007 was successfully produced in West Devon by Red Spider Company.
Now the book, Never Completely Submerged, looks at Sabine’s life in greater depth than could ever be possible in a play.
Why did Sabine inherit Lew House, rather than his brother? Why did he write so many novels? Where did he pick up the many anecdotes that appear in his published work? Why, despite being a successful writer, was he always hard up? Why did the restoration of Lew House take precedence over much else in his life? How did some unpublished material come to be suppressed after his death?
This book throws light on these and many other areas.
Biographical Supporting Material:
In the process of forming his views on the life and character of Sabine Baring Gould Ron Wawman has drawn extensively on other material alongside the Diary of Sabine Baring-Gould. Most of this material is unpublished. Some has been published but is not readily available. Three examples, introduced and annotated by Ron, can now be seen on this website:
- Wafted Away; First published as a pamphlet in 1876.
- Some Early Family Correspondence; Unpublished.
- Bernard Heudré, editor, Souvenirs et observations de l’abbé François Duine, 2009 Presses Universitaires de Rennes. pp 113-9, Section on Sabine Baring-Gould, translated by Alan Payne.
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Purchasing Details:
Copies of the book are available from the author at ronwawman@googlemail.com
Price: £9.99
+ £2.70 packing and postage
Also available through Amazon.
