Hilaire Belloc

He met American Elodie Hogan in 1890 and fell hopelessly in love with her. The young couple braved family opposition and got married in 1896. They had a happy marriage that produced five children and lasted till Elodie’s death in 1914.

He had a stroke in 1941 and suffered from its side-effects for as long as he lived. He died in 1953 at the age of 83.

Hilaire Belloc was born in a village near Paris to Louis Belloc, a French lawyer and Elizabeth Rayner Parkes, an English writer. He had one elder sister.

He was just a toddler when his father died and his mother took the children to England where he spent most of his boyhood.

He went to John Henry Newman’s Oratory School and served a stint in the army after that.

In 1892, he enrolled in Balliol College, Oxford from where he earned a first class honours degree in History. He served as the president of the Oxford Union, a debating society and created a reputation for himself as a brilliant speaker.

As an honours graduate, he was hopeful of receiving a Fellowship and was bitterly disappointed when he did not. He attributed this failure to his deep Catholic faith believing that he was discriminated against because of his religion.

His writing career began in 1896 when he published two of his works. The first was a collection of poems titled, ‘Verses and Sonnets’ while the second one was a humourous children’s book, ‘The Bad Child's Book of Beasts’.

The success of ‘The Bad Child’s Book of Beasts’ prompted him to publish ‘More Beasts for Worse Children’ in 1897. It was followed by a collection of poems ‘The Modern Traveller’ in 1898.

He published studies, novels and historical works over the next few years, the most notable of them being: ‘Paris, Its Sites, Monuments and History’ (1898), ‘Lambkin's remains’ (1900), ‘The Path To Rome’ (1902) and ‘Emmanuel Burden, Merchant’ (1904).

Between 1910 and 1920, he produced many works of fiction, non-fiction, essays and criticisms. It was during this period that he produced his well known book on economics, ‘The Servile State’ (1912). He also wrote ‘Warfare in England’ (1913), ‘A Change in the Cabinet’ (1915), and ‘The Free Press’ (1918).

In 1914, he found a job as the editor of ‘Land and Water’, a British weekly journal that covered the progress of the World War I. He held this position till 1920.

Belloc is best known for his illustrated 1896 children’s book, ‘The Bad Child's Book of Beasts’. It was a collection of poems that give humourous advice to children. The book sold over 4000 copies, which was an enormous figure during those times.

His book ‘Cautionary Tales for Children’ (1907) was a collection of satirical tales of caution spoofed on the popular tales of the 19th century. The tales were written in rhyming couplets.

His work on economics, ‘The Servile State’ which he published in 1912, outlines his ideas and concepts regarding the economic history of Europe. It was one of his better known books.

When H.G. Wells published his ‘Outline of History’, Belloc criticized certain theories in the book and wrote a series of reviews highlighting his objections. He then published the collection of reviews in form of a book titled, ‘Mr.Belloc still Objects’ in 1926. The publication of the book cemented his reputation as an aggressive debater.