{{short description|Welsh writer, artist, teacher, and historian}} {{EngvarB|date=September 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}} {{Infobox person | name = Fred Hando | honorific_suffix = [[Order of the British Empire|MBE]] | image = Fred Hando.jpg | image_size = 180 | caption = | birth_name = Frederick James Hando | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1888|3|23}} | birth_place = [[Maindee]], [[Newport, Wales|Newport]], [[Monmouthshire (historic)|Monmouthshire]],{{efn|[[Monmouthshire (historic)#Ambiguity over status|Monmouthshire's Welsh status]] was ambiguous at this time.}}<!--Whether Monmouthshire was in Wales in 1872 is debatable. Please leave this alone; this page is not the place for this debate--> UK | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1970|2|17|1888|3|23}} | death_place = [[St Joseph's Hospital, Newport|St. Joseph's Nursing Home]], Newport, Monmouthshire, UK | death_cause = | other_names = | known_for = Publications on history of Monmouthshire | education = | employer = | occupation = {{Flatlist| * Headteacher * writer * artist }} | title = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | party = | boards = | spouse = | partner = | children = {{unbulleted list|[[Margaret Delacourt-Smith]]|John Hando|Robert Hando}} | parents = | relatives = | signature = }} '''Frederick James Hando''' [[Order of the British Empire|MBE]] (23 March 1888 – 17 February 1970) was a [[List of Welsh writers|Welsh writer]], artist and schoolteacher from [[Newport, Wales|Newport]]. He chronicled the history, character and folklore of [[Monmouthshire (historic)|Monmouthshire]], which he also called [[Kingdom of Gwent|Gwent]], in a series of nearly 800 newspaper articles and several books published between the 1920s and 1960s.
==Biography== Hando was born in [[Maindee]], [[Newport, Wales|Newport]], [[Monmouthshire (historic)|Monmouthshire]], the son of a postmaster Alfred and his wife Miriam, and attended school there.{{efn|The Hando family came from [[North Curry]] in Somerset. In the 18th century part of the family emigrated to Australia. The parents died en route, however, and their two five-year-old sons arrived in Australia as orphans. There are hundreds of their descendants in Australia today.{{sfn|Barber|1987|pp=7-11}}}}{{sfn|Barber|1987|pp=7-11}} He had two younger brothers, Frank and Harry. He trained at [[Borough Road College]], London, before returning to Newport as a teacher.{{sfn|Collins|1945|pp=118-120}} He served as a gunnery officer with the [[Royal Engineers]] in the [[First World War]],{{sfn|Barber|1987|pp=7-11}} where his experiences in [[Flanders]] had a profound effect on him.<ref name="southwalesargus.co.uk">{{cite news|url=https://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/14678413.the-long-view-fred-hando-the-argus-writer-and-teacher-who-revealed-hidden-gwent/|title=Fred Hando – The Argus writer and teacher who revealed hidden Gwent|first=Martin|last=Wade|date=12 August 2016|newspaper=South Wales Argus}}</ref> In his anthology of authors from the county, ''Monmouthshire Writers: A literary history'', W. J. Townsend Collins suggests that Hando's experiences at the [[Battle of Vimy Ridge]] occasioned "something like a religious conversion - 'his eyes were opened so that he could see'".{{sfn|Collins|1945|p=118}}
Hando married Alice Stanton, the daughter of a Newport builder, and the couple had two children – Margaret and John. Alice died while still young. After a number of years, Hando married again to Daisy, a staff member at his school. The couple soon had a son, Robert.{{sfn|Barber|1987|pp=7-11}} {{quote box|width=25em|bgcolor=#c6dbf7|align=left|quote=Fred Hando unlocked our prison and set free what talents that I am sure would have remained locked in us for ever. Fred was a most talented man. He proved to us that all things were possible... We all of us come to a crossroads in our lives. I can only hope that at every crossroads there will be a smiling Fred Hando pointing the way and saying "This is the most pleasant and interesting way".|source=–[[Johnny Morris (television presenter)|Johnny Morris]] on Hando's teaching style{{sfn|Barber|1987|pp=7-11}}}} In 1925 he was appointed as the first headmaster of Hatherleigh School in Newport,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Richards |first1=Keith |title=NOW AND THEN: Hatherleigh School, Christchurch, Newport |url=https://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/9922638.now-and-then-hatherleigh-school-christchurch-newport/ |work=[[South Wales Argus]] |date=18 September 2012 |location=Newport}}</ref> where one of his pupils was [[Johnny Morris (television presenter)|Johnny Morris]], later a noted radio and television presenter [see box]. Hando adopted an open and progressive teaching style and was described by Miriam Andrews, a former teacher at the school, as "a wonderful headmaster and he made the children very proud of Hatherleigh".{{sfn|Barber|1987|pp=7-11}} His interest in local history was given an impetus when he was asked to provide sketches to illustrate [[Joseph Bradney|Sir Joseph Bradney]]'s multi-volume ''[[A History of Monmouthshire from the Coming of the Normans into Wales down to the Present Time]]''{{sfn|Barber|1987|pp=189–193}} and his first articles about Monmouthshire were published in the ''[[South Wales Argus]]'' in 1922.<ref name=nlhs>[http://www.wholeselfcoach.com/newportlhs/FredHandoArticleList.html Newport Local History Society: List of articles by Fred Hando published in the ''South Wales Argus'']. Accessed 9 February 2012</ref> The then editor, William Collins agreed to an initial run of 15 articles.<ref name="southwalesargus.co.uk"/> In total, he contributed 795 articles to the newspaper between 1922 and 13 February 1970, a few days before his death.<ref name=nlhs/> Due to their high readership, the page of the ''Argus'' on which his articles appeared became particularly prized as advertising space.<ref name="southwalesargus.co.uk"/> Many of his articles and drawings were republished in anthologies of his work.{{sfn|Barber|1987|pp=7-11}} In his early writings, Hando was particularly interested in [[ley lines]] and the alignment of the sun with [[stone circle]]s. He said that he wanted to add to what was already on the map and that by studying leys he could reach back in history far beyond [[Roman Britain]].{{sfn|Stout|2009|p=211}}
Hando was organist and choirmaster of Summerhill [[Baptist Church]] Newport for many years".{{sfn|Barber|1987|pp=7-11}} In 1953 he was awarded the [[Order of the British Empire|MBE]] for services to education and to Monmouthshire".{{sfn|Barber|1987|pp=7-11}}
Hando died on 17 February 1970, at [[St Joseph's Hospital, Newport|St. Joseph's Nursing Home]] in Newport, at the age of 81. His last article, on ''District and Street Names'', appeared in the ''South Wales Argus'' four days before his death.<ref name=nlhs/>
==Works== [[File:Dixton Church, Monmouth - geograph.org.uk - 604133.jpg|thumb|upright|"The lovely white church of [[St Peter's Church, Dixton|Dixton]]"{{sfn|Hando|1958|pp=115-117}} – Hando wrote of the church in his 1958 collection, ''Out and About in Monmouthshire'' and one of the ‘Hando seats’ in his memory was erected in the churchyard after his death.]] Hando's aim in writing his articles was set out in the preface to his ''The Pleasant Land of Gwent'', published in 1944; "to persuade readers to see the little places of a shy county".{{sfn|Hando|1944|p=15}} Monmouthshire's set pieces, such as [[Raglan Castle]] and [[Tintern Abbey]] were not his focus, he wrote of lesser known sites such as the "Virtuous Well" at [[Trellech]],{{sfn|Hando|1944|p=61}} "the tallest house in Monmouthshire" at [[Treowen]],{{sfn|Hando|1951|p=82}} and the medieval boundary marker at [[Cross at Croes Llwyd Farm, Raglan|Croes Llwyd]].{{sfn|Hando|1961|p=unknown}} His scope was broader than buildings; in his foreword to the 1964 volume, ''Here and There in Monmouthshire'', [[Edwin Morris (bishop)|Edwin Morris]], the then [[Archbishop of Wales]], describes Hando's canvas as "reminiscence, folklore, local history, place names and introductions to interesting people, past and present, illustrated by his own beautiful drawings".{{sfn|Hando|1964b|loc=xiii}} He took a relatively early interest in conservation. In his article on [[Allt-y-Bela]], published in ''Journeys in Gwent'' in 1951, he wrote of the house's perilous state of dilapidation, noting "unless immediate and drastic action is taken, we shall lose priceless relics".{{sfn|Hando|1951|p=46}} Fifty years later, in the [[Pevsner Architectural Guides|Gwent/Monmouthshire Pevsner]], the architectural historian [[John Newman (architectural historian)|John Newman]] described Allt-y-Bela as "miserably derelict".{{efn|The house was restored by the [[Spitalfields Historic Buildings Trust]] between 2001-2006.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thespitalfieldstrust.com/project/allt-y-bela-monmouthshire/|title=The Spitalfields Trust | Allt-y-Bela, Usk, Monmouthshire, South Wales|access-date=7 July 2019|archive-date=7 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707071304/http://www.thespitalfieldstrust.com/project/allt-y-bela-monmouthshire/|url-status=dead}}</ref>}}{{sfn|Newman|2000|p=34}} His concern for preservation extended beyond individual buildings to the wider Monmouthshire landscape. An article published in ''Monmouthshire Sketch Book'' in 1954, was entitled "The Threat to Machen Vale" and condemned plans by the [[Central Electricity Generating Board]] to construct an [[Fossil fuel power station|electricity generating station]] in the Vale.{{sfn|Hando|1954|pp=66-67}}
The vanishing folklore and customs of Monmouthshire were of particular interest to Hando.{{efn|Christine Anne Watkins, the author of ''Gwent Folk Tales'', records her debt to Hando in the Acknowledgements to the book; "To the work of Fred Hando, whose wonderful books and sketches (are) always inspiring".{{sfn|Watkins|2019|loc=Acknowledgments}}}} More than one article covered the [[Mari Lwyd]], a horse's skull covered by a sheet and borne aloft on a pole, which formed part of Christmas celebrations in the county.{{sfn|Hando|1944|p=101}}{{sfn|Hando|1951|pp=22-28}} In a number of articles, including one on [[Ysgyryd Fawr|The Skirrid]] in ''Monmouthshire Sketch Book'', he wrote of the legends of [[Jack o' Kent]], who was said to have caused the cleft in the Skirrid's summit by jumping to it from [[Sugar Loaf, Monmouthshire|the Sugar Loaf]], some four miles distant.{{sfn|Hando|1954|p=45}}
Monmouthshire's [[pubs]] were another topic of abiding interest. Hando wrote of, and drank and smoked in, a large number of the country's hostelries, the [[Robin Hood Inn, Monmouth]] being a particular favourite. In his ''Monmouth Town Sketch Book'', he recalls a visit in 1947, when he encountered "the last of the Monmouth 'cards'".{{efn|A 'card' was a "'character', an 'original'; a 'clever, audacious, person'".<ref>''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]''. "Card" n<sup>2</sup> 1.2.c</ref>}}{{sfn|Hando|1964a|p=19}}
Hando's ''Pictorial Guide to the Wye Valley and the Forest of Dean'' is the only one of his books which took the form of a conventional travel guide, as opposed to a collection of articles.{{sfn|Hando|1952|loc=Frontispiece}}
==Legacy== After his death the [[Monmouthshire Local History Council]] set up several "Hando seats" at viewpoints in the county that he had considered to be particularly fine.{{sfn|Barber|1989|p=7}} Funded by public subscription, the seats were located in [[St Peter's Church, Dixton|Dixton churchyard]]; at [[Llandegfedd Reservoir]]; on Lawrence Hill, Newport; at the top of the [[Wyndcliff]], [[St. Arvans]]; and near Keeper's Pond on the [[Blorenge]] near [[Blaenavon]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Pearson|first1=Jane|title=Fred Hando Seat|journal=Gwent Local History|date=Autumn 1982|issue=53|page=2|url=https://journals.library.wales/view/1337678/1338267/3|access-date=26 March 2018|publisher=Gwent Local History Council|issn=0308-0374}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| last1 = Gwent Federation of Women's Institutes|title=The Gwent Village Book| date = 1994| publisher = Countryside Books| isbn = 978-1853063121| section = Llandegvedd, Llanddewi & Coedypaen| section-url = http://www.visitoruk.com/Newport/llandegvedd-llanddewi-and-coedypaen-C592-V15461.html| access-date=16 April 2016}}</ref> Nearly 50 years after his death, Hando and his work are still cited in 21st century controversies. His detailed chronicling of the county's history was referenced in the debate on the construction of an [[M4 relief road|extension of the M4 motorway]]<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/nov/18/gwent-levels-wetlands-biodiversity-risk-wales-motorway|title=Rich soup of life in Gwent wetlands at risk from motorway|first=Steven|last=Morris|date=18 November 2018|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> across the [[Caldicot and Wentloog Levels|Gwent Levels]];<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nation.cymru/opinion/we-must-remember-the-history-as-well-as-the-biodiversity-of-the-gwent-levels/|title=We must remember the history – as well as the biodiversity – of the Gwent Levels|first=Stuart|last=Stanton|date=29 November 2018|publisher=Nation Cymru}}</ref> and the late [[Paul Flynn (British politician)|Paul Flynn]], former member of parliament for [[Newport West (UK Parliament constituency)|Newport West]], recalled the "halcyon days" of Hando's columns in a discussion about declining journalistic standards at the ''South Wales Argus''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.iwa.wales/click/2012/06/my-life-with-the-south-wales-argus/|title=My life with the South Wales Argus|first=Paul|last=Flynn|author-link=Paul Flynn (British politician)|date=18 June 2012|publisher=Institute for Welsh Affairs}}</ref>
From November 2017, the ''South Wales Argus'' re-published his weekly "Rambles in Gwent" column, giving readers an opportunity to read Hando's descriptions of what the ''Argus'' editor Kenneth Loveland called "the shy beauty of this delectable county".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/15627249.your-chance-to-read-fred-handos-travels-in-old-gwent/|title=Your chance to read Fred Hando's travels in old Gwent|date=30 October 2017|publisher=South Wales Argus}}</ref>
==Family== His daughter, [[Margaret Delacourt-Smith, Baroness Delacourt-Smith of Alteryn|Margaret]], was born in April 1916. She graduated from [[St Anne's College, Oxford]], and later married [[Charles Delacourt-Smith, Baron Delacourt-Smith|Charles Smith, later Delacourt-Smith]], in 1939. Her husband became a [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] [[Member of Parliament|MP]] in 1945 and later a Government minister, and was ennobled in 1967. She was a [[councillor]] and [[Justice of the Peace]] in [[Windsor, Berkshire|Windsor]] in the 1960s.<ref name=peerage>[http://thepeerage.com/p19120.htm#i191192 Margaret Rosalind Hando at ThePeerage.com]. Accessed 10 February 2012</ref> After her husband's death, she was herself raised to the peerage in 1974 as Baroness Delacourt-Smith of [[Allt-yr-yn|Alteryn]]. She remarried in 1978<ref name=peerage/> and died in 2010 at the age of 94.<ref>[http://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/8230969.Tributes_paid_to_Newport_born_Baroness/ South Wales Argus, ''Tributes paid to Newport-born Baroness'', 21 June 2010]. Accessed 10 February 2012</ref> Margaret's brother, from Hando's first marriage, to Alice, was John. Hando also had a son, Robert, from his second marriage.{{sfn|Barber|1987|pp=7-11}}
==Bibliography== ===Books by Fred Hando=== (all published by R. H. Johns, Newport) * ''Rambles in Gwent'' (1924)<ref>{{cite book|title=Rambles in Gwent.|first=Frederick James|last=Hando|date=3 May 2019|publisher=R.H. Johns|oclc = 771405583}}</ref> * ''The Pleasant Land of Gwent'' (1944) With an introduction by [[Arthur Machen]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The pleasant land of Gwent|first1=Fred|last1=Hando|first2=Arthur|last2=Machen|author-link2=Arthur Machen|date=3 May 2019|publisher=R.H. Johns|oclc = 2534151}}</ref> (including limited Deluxe Edition of 220 copies, signed by the author) * ''Journeys in Gwent'' (1951)<ref>{{cite book|title=Journeys in Gwent|first=Fred|last=Hando|date=3 May 2019|publisher=Johns|oclc = 30202753}}</ref> (including limited Deluxe Edition of 350 copies, signed by the author), [[OCLC]] 754992827<ref>{{cite book|title=Journeys in Gwent.|first=Fred J|last=Hando|date=3 May 2019|publisher=R.H. Johns|oclc = 754992827}}</ref> * ''Pictorial Guide to the Wye Valley and the Royal Forest of Dean'' (1952), (Edited by W. A. Stoker)<ref>{{cite book|title=Pictorial guide to the Wye Valley and Royal Forest of Dean|first=Fred|last=Hando|date=3 May 2019|publisher=Ernest Joyce & Co. |editor= W. A. Stoker |location = Newport |oclc = 30164265}}</ref> * ''Monmouthshire Sketch Book'' (1954)<ref>{{cite book|title=Monmouthshire Sketch Book|first=Fred|last=Hando|date=3 May 2019|publisher=R.H. Johns|oclc = 30166792}}</ref> * ''Out and About in Monmouthshire'' (1958)<ref>{{cite book|title=Out and about in Monmouthshire|first=Fred|last=Hando|date=3 May 2019|publisher=Johns|oclc = 30235598}}</ref> * ''Monmouth Town'' (1964)<ref>{{cite book|title=Monmouth Town sketch book|first=Fred James|last=Hando|date=3 May 1964|publisher=Johns|oclc = 30295655}}</ref> * ''Here and There in Monmouthshire'' (1964)<ref>{{cite book|title=Here and there in Monmouthshire|first=Fred|last=Hando|date=3 May 1964|publisher=Johns|oclc = 30295639}}</ref>
===Collections and appreciations=== Collections of Hando's articles, edited by Chris Barber:<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.literaturewales.org/writers-of-wales/i/137861/desc/barber-chris/ |title=The Writers of Wales Database – BARBER, CHRIS |publisher=Literature Wales |access-date=30 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130304150244/http://www.literaturewales.org/writers-of-wales/i/137861/desc/barber-chris/ |archive-date=4 March 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> * ''Hando's Gwent'' (1987), Blorenge Books {{isbn|978-0951044452}} * ''Hando's Gwent Volume 2'' (1989), Blorenge Books {{isbn|978-0951044490}}
An appreciation of Hando's work, ''Fred J Hando, A Proud Son of Gwent'' ({{isbn|9781904192626}}), including some of his writings and drawings, was published by his relative David Hando in 2014.<ref>{{cite news |title=Nephew's book reveals life of Gwent historian and Argus columnist, Fred Hando |url=https://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/11269445.nephews-book-reveals-life-of-gwent-historian-and-argus-columnist-fred-hando/ |work=[[South Wales Argus]] |date=11 June 2014 |location=Newport |access-date=7 July 2019}}</ref>
==Footnotes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Sources== *{{Cite book |last = Collins | first = William James Townsend |title=Monmouthshire Writers: A Literary History and Anthology |year=1945 |publisher=R. H. Johns Ltd. |location= [[Newport, Wales|Newport]] |oclc=236089162 }} *{{Cite book |last = Hando | first = Fred |title=Rambles in Gwent |year=1922 |publisher=R. H. Johns Ltd. |location= [[Newport, Wales|Newport]] |oclc=771405583 }} *{{Cite book |last = Hando | first = Fred |author-mask=1 |title=The Pleasant Land of Gwent |year=1944 |publisher=R. H. Johns Ltd. |location= [[Newport, Wales|Newport]] |oclc=2534151 }} *{{Cite book |last = Hando | first = Fred |author-mask=1 |title=Journeys in Gwent |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gEEGnwEACAAJ&q=Journeys+in+Gwent |year=1951 |publisher=R. H. Johns Ltd. |location= [[Newport, Wales|Newport]] |oclc=30202753 }} *{{Cite book |last = Hando | first = Fred |author-mask=1 |title=Pictorial Guide to the Wye Valley and the Forest of Dean |year=1952 |publisher=Ernest Joyce and Co. |location= [[Newport, Wales|Newport]] |oclc=30164265 }} *{{Cite book |last = Hando | first = Fred |author-mask=1 |title=Monmouthshire Sketch Book |year=1954 |publisher=R. H. Johns Ltd. |location= [[Newport, Wales|Newport]] |oclc=30166792 }} * {{Cite book |last=Hando|first=Fred |author-mask=1 |title=Out and About in Monmouthshire |year=1958 |publisher=R. H. Johns Ltd. |location= [[Newport, Wales|Newport]] |oclc=30235598 }} * {{Cite news |last=Hando |first=Fred |author-mask=1 |title=Monmouthshire Sketchbook: No.452 |year=1961 |work=South Wales Argus}} * {{cite book |last=Hando |first=Fred |author-mask=1 |year=1964a |title=Monmouth Town Sketch Book |publisher=R. H. Johns Ltd. |location= [[Newport, Wales|Newport]] |oclc=30295655 }} * {{cite book |last=Hando |first=Fred |author-mask=1 |title=Here and There in Monmouthshire |year=1964b |publisher=R. H. Johns Ltd. |location= [[Newport, Wales|Newport]] |oclc=30295639 }} *{{Cite book |last = Hando | first = Fred |author-mask=1 |title=Hando's Gwent |editor=Chris Barber |volume=1 |year=1987 |publisher=Blorenge Books |location= [[Abergavenny]], Wales |isbn= 9780951044452 | oclc = 18745431 |ref={{sfnRef|Barber|1987}} }} *{{Cite book |last = Hando | first = Fred |author-mask=1 |title=Hando's Gwent |editor=Chris Barber |volume=2 |year=1989 |publisher=Blorenge Books |location= [[Abergavenny]], Wales |isbn= 9780951044483 | oclc = 650492501 |ref={{sfnRef|Barber|1989}} }} * {{cite book |last1=Newman |first1=John |title=Gwent/Monmouthshire |date=2000 |publisher=Yale University Press |series=Pevsner Architectural Guides |location=New Haven |isbn=978-0-300-09630-9}} *{{Cite book |last = Stout | first = Alan |title=Creating Prehistory: Druids, Ley Hunters and Archaeologists in pre-war Britain |year=2009 |publisher= [[Wiley (publisher)|John Wiley & Son]] |location= New York |isbn= 9781444302929 | oclc = 437133104 }} *{{Cite book |last = Watkins | first = Christine Anne |title=Gwent Folk Tales |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J-mGDwAAQBAJ&q=fred+hando+life&pg=PT6 |year=2019 |publisher= [[The History Press]] |location= [[Stroud]], [[Gloucestershire]] |isbn= 9780750991544 }}
==External links== * {{cite web |last1=Whyte |first1=John |last2=Clevely |first2=Ted |title=Articles Published by Fred J Hando in the South Wales Argus 1953–1970 |url=http://www.wholeselfcoach.com/newportlhs/FredHandoArticleList.html |website=Newport Local History Society |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160323205412/http://www.wholeselfcoach.com/newportlhs/FredHandoArticleList.html |archive-date=23 March 2016}} *[http://www.caerleon.net/archive/prints/hando_oak.htm "Hando Oak" at caerleon.net]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hando, Fred}} [[Category:1888 births]] [[Category:1970 deaths]] [[Category:People from Newport, Wales]] [[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]] [[Category:20th-century Welsh historians]] [[Category:Welsh schoolteachers]] [[Category:History of Monmouthshire]] [[Category:Architecture in Wales]] [[Category:History of Wales]] [[Category:Members_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire]]