Meynell, Francis, 1891-1975

Person

Staff Only

Dates

Existence: 1891 - 1975

Biographical note

Francis Meredith Wilfrid Meynell was born on May 12, 1891 in London, England to Wilfrid and Alice (Thompson) Meynell. Francis Thompson was Francis Meynell's godfather. Meynell attended Trinity College, Dublin. He married three times: Hilda Saxe, 1914 (one daughter, Cynthia); Vera Mendel, 1925 (one son, Benedict); and Alix Hester Marie Kilroy, 1946 (no children). He was a typographer, book designer, and publisher affiliated with Burns & Oates Ltd.; Pelican Press; The Daily Herald; and Nonesuch Press. Meynell also served as a columnist for News Chronicle and director of the Mather & Crowther Ltd. advertising agency as well as Bodley Head Ltd.. He published his autobiography, My Lives with Random House in 1971.

Francis Meynell was named Royal Designer for Industry by the Royal Society of Arts in 1945; knighted in 1946, and honored with a D.Litt. from the University of Reading in 1964. Francis Meynell died on July 9, 1975 in London.

Social Networks and Archival Context (SNAC) Identifier

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6f29rqg

Found in 1 Collection or Record:

Boston College collection of the Alice and Wilfrid Meynell family

Collection

Abstract This collection documents the literary life of British Catholic authors, editors, and publishers Alice and Wilfrid Meynell, as well as their sponsorship of poet Francis Thompson. It contains materials created or collected by both Alice and Wilfrid, as well as six of their children: Everard, Francis, Madeline, Monica, Sebastian, and Viola. Materials include correspondence, drawings, ephemera, manuscripts, photographs, proofs of publications, and a scrapbook. The focus of the collection is on...

Restrictions on access

Collection is open for research.

Dates: 1868 - 1958; Majority of material found within 1881 - 1938