Arthur Machen (1863-1947), St Mary’s Churchyard, Amersham, Bucks, UK - Grave of a Famous Person on Waymarking.com

Machen was born on 13th March 1863 in Caerleon, Monmouthshire. His father, John Edward Jones, was vicar of Llanddewi Fach with Llandegyeth. The Rev Jones adopted his wife’s name Machen to inherit a legacy. He attended Hereford Cathedral School, but did not progress to university due to financial constraints.

In his early life Machen worked as a journalist, publisher’s clerk and children’s tutor. During this period he wrote a long poem Eleusinia and a book The Anatomy of Tobacco. The latter work secured him a job as a cataloguer and magazine editor, and as a translator of books from French to English.

In 1887 Machen married his first wife Amelia Hogg. Hogg had friends in London’s bohemian set and introduced Machen to the writer and occultist A E Waite. Machen’s finances improved at this time and his writing gathered pace.

His literary breakthrough occurred in 1894 with The Great God Pan, and The Three Impostors in 1895. His specialist genre of decadent horror became less fashionable following the trial of Oscar Wilde, and were published several years after their creation.

In 1899 Amelia Hogg died, which left Machen bereft. As part of his recovery he took to acting and toured the country. In 1903 he married his second wife, Dorothie Purefoy Hudleston. His literary career started again and in 1906 he published The House of Souls. He later published The Secret Glory, for the first time using the idea that the Holy Grail still existed.

With dwindling funds, Machen eventually became a journalist with the Evening News in 1910. The outbreak of World War 1 rekindled Machen’s literary career, when he published the Bowmen. He did not like journalism and was sacked from the paper in 1921.

During the 1920s Machen’s works reached a new audience and was published in America. His works sold well, but by 1927 sales dropped off. His reduced income forced him to become a manuscript reader for the publisher Ernest Benn, a post he held until 1933.

He moved, with his family to Amersham, where he died on 15th December 1947, and is buried in St Mary’s churchyard in Amersham.

Description: He was a prolific and well known author of horror stories Date of birth: 03/13/1863 Date of death: 12/15/1947 Area of notoriety: Literature Marker Type: Headstone Setting: Outdoor Fee required?: No Web site: [Web Link] Visiting Hours/Restrictions: Not listed

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