Jerome

K. Jerome Biography
A comprehensive biography of Jerome K. Jerome, his childhood
& life
Quick Facts
Famous as

Author

Nationality

Briton

Born on

02 May 1859

Zodiac Sign

Taurus

Born in

Walsall

Died on

14 June 1927

Place of death

Northampton

Father

Jerome Clapp Jerome

Mother

Marguerite Jones

Siblings

Paulina Deodata, Blandina Dominica, Milton

Melancthon

Spouse:

Georgina Elizabeth Henrietta Stanley Marris

Children

Elsie, Rowena

Education

St Marylebone Grammar School

Works &
Achievements

T hree men in a Boat(1889)

Jerome Klapka Jerome was a renowned English writer and

humorist. He is best known for his humorous and comic
masterpiece Three Men in a Boat, apart from his other notable
works of literature. He was born on 2nd May, 1859 in Caldmore,
Walsall, England, and was raised amidst poverty in London. His
other works include the essay collections like the Idle Thoughts
of an Idle Fellow and Second Thoughts of an Idle Fellow,
Three Men on the Bummel- which was a sequel to Three Men
in a Boat; and several other novels. Jerome died at the age of
68 on 14th June, 1927.
Je rom e K Je rom e Childhood
Jerome Klapka Jerome was born on 2nd May, 1859 in Belsize
House, Bradford Street, Walsall, and Stradffordshire, England.
He was born to father Jerome Clapp Jerome and mother
Marguerite Jones. While his father was a non-conformist lay
preacher, ironmonger and architect by profession and his
mother was a daughter of a solicitor. Jerome was their fourth
child. He had two sisters, Paulina Deodata, Blandina Dominica
and Brother Milton Melancthon. Jerome lost his father at an
early age of fourteen.
Initially Jerome was registered as Jerome Clap Jerome and later
his name was amended as Klapka. Jerome faced a lot of poverty
due to bad investment in the local mining industry and debt
collectors were frequent visitors in their house. Jerome later
described his experiences of childhood in his autobiography My
Life and Times (1926).


Education and Early Life
Jerome lost his father at the age of 13 and he lost his mother at
the age of 15. As a young boy Jerome always wanted to join
politics and become a member of parliament but due to the crisis
at home front, he was forced to quit his studies and find work to
support his living. He studied at the Philological School later
known as Marylebone but he had to leave his school for doing a
job at the London and North Western Railway. Initially his work
was all about collecting coal and he continued doing it for four
years.

Acting Care e r
Jeromes acting career was inspired by his older sister
Blandina's love for the theatre in 1877. Jerome started his
acting career under the stage name Harold Crichton. He joined
a repertory troupe and produced low budget plays with meagre
resources. He produced such plays for three years and at the
age of 21, he decided to end his theatre career. He then tried
his hands in becoming a very a journalist, wrote essays, satires
and short stories and over the next few years, but most of these
were rejected. Over the next few years he served as a school
teacher, a packer, and a solicitor's clerk. He tasted success as
an actor finally in 1885, with his play On the Stage.

Writing Care e r
His writing career started with his collection of humorous essays
Idle T houghts of an Idle Fellow published in 1886. Jerome wrote
his most famous work of literature T hree Men in a Boat after his
return from his honeymoon on a boat in river T hames. Soon
after its publication in 1889 it went on to become an instant hit.
T he two main Protagonists in the novel were replaced by his
friends George Wingrave (George) and Carl Hentschel (Harris).
He created a comic situation in the book which was no way
related or remotely connected to the history of the T hames
region. With its publication, the number of boats went upto fifty

percent following its publication. Within twenty years, the book

sold over a million copies and was later adapted to movies, T V
and radio shows, stage plays, and even a musical. His style of
writing influenced many humorists and satirists in England.
Later, he went on to write many plays, novels and essay but
they were not as successful as his book T hree Men in a Boat. In
1892, he edited the Idler. In 1893, he founded To-Day but had to
stop its publication because of an ongoing financial crisis and a
libel suit against him. In 1898, during his short stay at Germany,
he wrote T hree Men on the Bummel which was a sequel to
T hree Men in a Boat. In 1902, he published the novel, Paul
Kelver, which is considered an autobiographical and wrote the
play T he Passing of the T hird Floor Back in 1908.Jerome
published his autobiography, M y Li fe and Ti mes in 1926. T he
Borough of Walsall gave him the title Freeman of the Borough.

World War I
Jerome volunteered to offer his service during World War I at 56
years of age. T he British Army considered him too old and
rejected him on the basis of his age.

Marriage
Jerome got married to Georgina Elizabeth Henrietta Stanley
Marris (Ettie), who was a divorcee. She had a daughter from her
previous marriage of five years named Elsie. Jeromes stepdaughter died in 1921.

De ath
Jerome spent most of his last days at his farmhouse in Ewelme
near Wallingford. He died of stroke and a cerebral haemorrhage
at the age of 68 on 14 th June, 1927 in Northampton, England.
He was cremated at Golders Green and his ashes were buried
at St Mary's Church, Ewelme, and Oxfordshire alongside his
wife, sister and step-daughter.

His Nov e ls
Idle T houghts of an Idle Fellow (1886)
T hree Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) (1889)
Diary of a Pilgrimage (and Six Essays) (1891) (full text)
Novel Notes (1893)
Second T houghts of an Idle Fellow (1898)
T hree Men on the Bummel (aka T hree Men on Wheels)
(1900)
Paul Kelver, a novel (1902)
Tommy and Co (1904)
T hey and I (1909)
All Roads Lead to Calvary (1919)
Anthony John (1923)
T he Love of Ulrich Nebendahl (1909)
T he Philosopher's Joke (1909)
Collections
Told after Supper (1891)
John Ingerfield: And Other Stories (1894)
Sketches in Lavender, Blue and Green (1895)
T he Observations of Henry (1901)
T he Angel and the Author and Others (1904)
American Wives and Others (1904)
T he Passing of the T hird Floor Back: And Other Stories
(1907)
Malvina of Brittany (1916)
T hree Men in a Boat and T hree Men on the Bummel
(1974)
After Supper Ghost Stories: And Other Tales (1985)
His Autobiography
My Life and Times (1926)
Anthologie s
Great Short Stories of Detection, Mystery and Horror 1st
Series (1928)
A Century of Humour (1934)
T he Mammoth Book of T hrillers, Ghosts and Mysteries
(1936)

Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1957)

Famous Monster Tales (1967)
T he 5th Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories (1969)
T he Rivals of Frankenstein (1975)
T he 17th Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories (1981)
Stories in the Dark (1984)
Gaslit Nightmares (1988)
Horror Stories (1988)
100 Tiny Tales of Terror (1996)
Knights of Madness: Further Comic Tales of Fantasy
(1998)
100 Hilarious Little Howlers (1999)
Short Storie s
T he Haunted Mill (1891)
T he New Utopia (1891)
T he Dancing Partner (1893)
Evergreens
Christmas Eve in the Blue Chamber
Silhouettes
T he Skeleton
T he Snake
T he Woman of the Saeter
His Play s
T he Maister of Wood Barrow: play in three acts (1890)
T he Night of 14 Feb (1899) : a play in nine scenes
Miss Hobbs: a comedy in four acts (1902) - starring
Evelyn Millard
Fanny and the Servant Problem, a quite possible play in
four acts (1909)
T he Master of Mrs. Chilvers: an improbable comedy,
imagined by Jerome K. Jerome (1911)
T he Soul of Nicholas Snyders: A Mystery Play In T hree
Acts (1925)
T he Celebrity: a play in three acts (1926)
Robina's Web ("T he Dovecote", or "T he grey feather"): a
farce i

T he Passing of the T hird Floor Back (1908)