St John Ervine was born in Ballymacarret, Belfast on 28 December 1883. After working for three years in an insurance office he emigrated to London at the age of eighteen. For a short period in 1915 he was manager of the Abbey Theatre, where his plays Mixed Marriage, June Clegg and John Ferguson had already been succesful. He was wounded as a lieutenant in the Dublin Fusiliers, and had a leg amputated. He settled in the south west of England. He wrote biographies of Craigavon and Carson, of William Booth, Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw, as well as publishing seven novels including The First Mrs Fraser and some plays, such as Boyd's Shop and Friends and Relations. Until 1939 he was drama critic for the Observer. He became a member of the Irish Academy of Letters and from 1933 to 1936 was Professor of Dramatic Literature for the Royal Society of Literature. His work reflects the change in his political stance away from nationalism and socialism towards unionism.

He died on 24 January 1971 

 

Born:	28 December 1883
Died:	24 January 1971