Francis Kilvert 1214815 222842512 2008-07-01T11:23:49Z Cydebot 1215485 Robot - Moving category Deaths of peritonitis to Deaths from peritonitis per [[WP:CFD|CFD]] at [[Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2008 June 21]]. {{for|the mayor of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada|Francis Edwin Kilvert}} '''Robert Francis Kilvert''' ([[3 December]] [[1840]]–[[23 September]] [[1879]]), always known as '''Francis''', or '''Frank''', was born at The Rectory, Hardenhuish Lane, near [[Chippenham, Wiltshire]], to the Rev. Robert Kilvert, [[Rector]] of [[Langley Burrell]], [[Wiltshire]], and Thermuthis, daughter of Walter Coleman and Thermuthis Ashe. He is remembered for his diaries, reflecting rural life in the 1870s, which were published several years after his death. == Professional Life == Kilvert was educated privately in [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]] by his uncle, Francis Kilvert, before going up to [[Wadham College, Oxford]]. He then entered the [[Church of England]] and became a rural [[curate]], working primarily in the [[Welsh Marches]] between [[Hereford]] and [[Hay on Wye]]. Initially from 1863 to 1864 he was [[Curate]] to his father at Langley Burrell, and in 1865 he became Curate of [[Clyro]], [[Radnorshire]]; he remained there until 1872 when he rejoined his father at Langley Burrell. From 1876 to 1877 he was [[Vicar]] of [[St Harmon]], [[Radnorshire]], and from 1877 to his death in 1879 he was Vicar of [[Bredwardine]], [[Herefordshire]]. In August 1879 he married Elizabeth Ann Rowland (1846-1911), whom he had met on a visit to [[Paris]], but he died a few days after returning from his honeymoon in [[Scotland]]. Now there is a Francis Kilvert Society which holds meetings looking around places where Francis went and where he lived. == Kilvert's Diary == Kilvert is best known as the author of voluminous [[diaries]] describing rural life. After his death from [[peritonitis]], his frank and open diaries came into the possession of censorious relatives, and only three of the twenty or more volumes are known to have survived deliberate burning. These three volumes have since been used as the source for published collections. His ''Diaries'' are considered to be classics, and also of historical importance for the study of remote rural life and [[Victorian era|Victorian]] society. Poet [[William Plomer]] published the most widely-known selection of the diaries, as ''Kilvert's Diary, 1870-1879'' (Penguin, 1938—corrected in the 1960s, and with an [[abridged]] and illustrated version for children published as ''[[Ardizzone]]'s Kilvert'' in 1976). A somewhat different selection from that of Plomer was published as ''Journal of a Country Curate: Selections from the Diary of Francis Kilvert'' by [[The Folio Society]] in 1960. In 1992 a new selection was published under the editorship of David Lockwood, ''Kilvert, the Victorian: A New Selection from Kilvert's Diaries'' (Seren Books, 1992). Out of print since 1970, the 3 volume indexed edition was reprinted in 2006 by O'Donoghue Books of Hay-on-Wye (http://www.kilverts-diary.com) The ''[[Cornwall|Cornish]] Diary: Journal No.4, 1870 - From July 19th to August 6th, [[Cornwall]]'' was published by Alison Hodge in 1989. The [[National Library of Wales]], which holds two of the three surviving volumes, published ''The diary of Francis Kilvert: April-June 1870'' in 1982 and "The Diary of Francis Kilvert: June-July 1870" in 1989. == Kilvert adapted to film == A [[John Betjeman]] [[BBC]] television documentary on Kilvert, called ''Vicar of this Parish'', was shown in 1976 . This led to ''Kilvert's Diary'' being dramatised (270 minutes or 390 minutes—sources differ) on British television between 1977 and 1978, with Timothy Davies in the title role. The programmes are no longer available, and may have been lost. Kilvert's life was the loose thread running through [[Mary Webb]]'s novel ''[[Gone to Earth]]''; a [[curate]] in the [[Welsh Marches]] falls in love at first sight with a fey half-gypsy girl. Webb's novel was filmed by [[Powell & Pressburger]] on location in [[Shropshire]] ''Gone to Earth'' (1950 in re-cut form, fully restored by the [[National Film and Television Archive|National Film Archive]] in 1985). ==Further reading== * David Lockwood. ''Francis Kilvert''. (Seren Books, 1992) * John Toman. ''Kilvert: The Homeless Heart''. (Logaston Press, 1992). * Frederick Grice. ''Francis Kilvert and His World''. (Caliban Books, 1980). == External Links == *[http://www.pikle.demon.co.uk/diaryjunction/data/kilvert.html Diary Junction website with links] {{DEFAULTSORT:Kilvert, Francis}} [[Category:1840 births]] [[Category:1879 deaths]] [[Category:People from Wiltshire]] [[Category:English diarists]] [[Category:Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford]] [[Category:Deaths from peritonitis]] [[cy:Robert Francis Kilvert]]