Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling was born on the 30th of December 1865 in Bombay, British India. His parents were Alice Kipling and John Lockwood Kipling. The family lived near the Sir J. J. School of Art where his father worked as a professor. Life changed abruptly when he was five years old. He and his three-year-old sister Alice were sent to England. They stayed at Lorne Lodge in Southsea with Captain Pryse Agar Holloway and Sarah Holloway. Kipling later called this place the House of Desolation. Mrs Holloway treated him with calculated cruelty. She would contradict his words and call them lies at breakfast. This experience lasted from October 1871 until April 1877. He recalled that such treatment made him tell lies which became the foundation of his literary effort. Only one month each Christmas did they visit their aunt Georgiana Burne-Jones in Fulham. That house felt like paradise compared to the lodge.
Kipling returned to India in September 1882 at sixteen years and nine months old. He took a job as assistant editor for the Civil and Military Gazette in Lahore. The newspaper appeared six days a week throughout the year. Stephen Wheeler worked him hard but Kipling wrote with unstoppable energy. An ex-colleague described how ink covered his white trousers like spots on a Dalmatian dog. He filled up his pen viciously and threw contents all over the office. In 1886 he published Departmental Ditties, his first collection of verse. By November 1886 thirty-nine stories appeared in the Gazette between then and June 1887. These formed Plain Tales from the Hills published in Calcutta in January 1888. He moved to Allahabad in November 1887 to work for The Pioneer newspaper. There he lived in Belvedere House until early 1889 when a dispute ended his employment. He sold rights to six volumes of stories for £200 plus royalties. This money funded his departure from India on the 9th of March 1889.
Kipling traveled across North America before crossing the Atlantic to Liverpool in October 1889. He met Mark Twain in Elmira New York during this journey. They discussed Anglo-American literature for two hours. Twain advised authors to get facts first before distorting them. Kipling married Caroline Balestier on the 18th of January 1892 in London during an influenza epidemic. They settled in Vermont where they rented Bliss Cottage for $10 a month near Brattleboro. Their daughter Josephine was born there on the 29th of December 1892 in three-foot snow. The writing room measured seven feet by eight feet with snow level with the window sill from December to April. It was here that The Jungle Books began to take shape. He wrote about Mowgli and animals while winter silence filled the house. Later they built Naulakha on a rocky hillside overlooking the Connecticut River. In four years he produced The Day's Work, Captains Courageous, and poetry including Barrack-Room Ballads published in March 1892. This collection contained Mandalay and Gunga Din which became famous songs.
Kipling moved to Torquay Devon in September 1896 after leaving Vermont. His son John was born there in August 1897. He wrote Recessional in 1897 and The White Man's Burden in 1899. These poems created controversy when published simultaneously in The Times and McClure's Magazine. Critics saw them as anthems for empire-building or propaganda for racial attitudes. One stanza reads: Take up the White Man's burden / Send forth the best ye breed. Another warns: Lest we forget , lest we forget! Kipling visited South Africa starting in early 1898. He stayed at Groote Schuur on Cecil Rhodes's estate. During the Second Boer War from 1899 to 1902 he wrote articles supporting the British cause. He worked briefly for The Friend newspaper in Bloemfontein commanded by Lord Roberts. Later he moved to Sussex buying Bateman's house in 1902 for £9,300. It remained his home until death. He also wrote A Fleet in Being about German naval power known as the Tirpitz Plan.
Kipling's only son John died at age 18 during the Battle of Loos in September 1915. John had been rejected twice from military service due to poor eyesight. His father arranged for him to join the Irish Guards through friends with Lord Roberts. John was sent to Loos two days into the battle in a reinforcement contingent. He was last seen stumbling through mud blindfolded with possible facial injury. A body identified as his was found in 1992 though that identification has been challenged. The Commonwealth War Grave Commission confirmed burial at St Mary's A.D.S. Cemetery Haisnes in 2015. Kipling wrote Epitaphs of the War including If any question why we died / Tell them because our fathers lied. Critics speculate these words express guilt over arranging John's commission or disgust at British leaders failing to learn lessons from the Boer War. Kipling read Jane Austen novels aloud to assuage grief. He joined Sir Fabian Ware's Imperial War Graves Commission after the war. He selected Their Name Liveth For Evermore for Stones of Remembrance and Known unto God for unidentified servicemen graves.
Kipling co-founded the Liberty League in 1920 with Henry Rider Haggard to combat Bolshevism. In 1922 he created The Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer for graduating students. Graduates receive an iron ring reminding them of obligations to society. He became Lord Rector of University of St Andrews that same year. Kipling warned against revising the Treaty of Versailles in Germany's favor predicting a new world war. He supported French Occupation of the Ruhr in 1923 arguing France needed protection. By 1933 he called Hitlerites out for blood and Mussolini a deranged egomaniac. Less than a year before death he gave An Undefended Island speech warning Nazi Germany posed danger to Britain. He scripted first Royal Christmas Message delivered via BBC Empire Service by George V in 1932. On the 6th of May 1935 he spoke about threats facing England. His use of swastika symbol on book covers ended when Nazis adopted it as their emblem.
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Common questions
When and where was Rudyard Kipling born?
Rudyard Kipling was born on the 30th of December 1865 in Bombay, British India. His parents were Alice Kipling and John Lockwood Kipling.
What happened to Rudyard Kipling when he was five years old?
He and his three-year-old sister Alice were sent to England to stay at Lorne Lodge in Southsea with Captain Pryse Agar Holloway and Sarah Holloway. This experience lasted from October 1871 until April 1877 and involved calculated cruelty that made him tell lies which became the foundation of his literary effort.
Where did Rudyard Kipling write The Jungle Books?
Kipling wrote about Mowgli and animals while winter silence filled the house at Bliss Cottage near Brattleboro in Vermont. Their writing room measured seven feet by eight feet with snow level with the window sill from December to April.
How did Rudyard Kipling's son John die during World War I?
John died at age 18 during the Battle of Loos in September 1915 after being sent to Loos two days into the battle in a reinforcement contingent. A body identified as his was found in 1992 though that identification has been challenged, and the Commonwealth War Grave Commission confirmed burial at St Mary's A.D.S. Cemetery Haisnes in 2015.
What political views did Rudyard Kipling hold regarding Germany and Hitler?
Rudyard Kipling warned against revising the Treaty of Versailles in Germany's favor predicting a new world war and called Hitlerites out for blood and Mussolini a deranged egomaniac by 1933. He gave An Undefended Island speech less than a year before death warning Nazi Germany posed danger to Britain.