Newbolt, Henry John (1862-1938)

English poet and naval historian. The rousing poem ‘Drake's Drum’ was published 1896, and was later set to music by the Irish composer Charles Villiers Stanford. Admirals All 1897, The Island Race 1898, and other collections reflect the patriotic fervour of the times. The Year of Trafalgar 1905 gave him a reputation as a naval historian and he was invited to complete the work of Sir Julian Corbett as the official naval historian of World War I. His own unofficial Naval History of the War 1920 is written with more freedom. He was knighted 1915.

He was born in Bilston, Staffordshire, and educated at Clifton College, Bristol, and Corpus Christi, Oxford. Called to the Bar 1887, he practised law for two years. He edited the Monthly Review 1900-04. In 1892 his first book, Taken from the Enemy (a Napoleonic novel), was published. His fame rests chiefly on the poems of the collection Admirals All which appeared in Longman's Magazine. His other works include The Sailing of the Longships 1902, Songs of the Sea 1904, The Twymans 1911, Poems, New and Old 1912, Book of the Blue Sea 1914, Book of the Thin Red Line 1915, Tales of the Great War 1916, and New Paths on Helicon 1927.