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Devon Boys
Reproduction of the Devon Boys by George Manville Fenn
296 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1887
About the author
George Manville Fenn
1,034 books8 followersGeorge Manville Fenn (January 3, 1831, Pimlico - August 26, 1909, Isleworth) was an English novelist, journalist, editor and educationalist.
Fenn, the third child and eldest son of a butler, Charles Fenn, was largely self-educated, teaching himself French, German and Italian. After studying at Battersea Training College for Teachers (1851-4), he became the master of a national school at Alford, Lincolnshire. He later became a printer, editor and publisher of short-lived periodicals, before attracting the attention of Charles Dickens and others with a sketch for All the Year Round in 1864. He contributed to Chambers's Journal and Once a Week. In 1866, he wrote a series of articles on working-class life for the newspaper The Star. These were collected and republished in four volumes. They were followed by a similar series in the Weekly Times.
Meanwhile he was married in 1855 to Susanna Leak, daughter of John Leak of Alford. They had two sons and six daughters.
Fenn's first story for boys, Hollowdell Grange, appeared in 1867. It was followed by countless other novels for juveniles and adults. Over 170 of them are thought to have been published in book form. Having become editor of Cassell's Magazine in 1870, he purchased Once a Week and edited it until it closed in 1879. He also wrote for the theatre.
Fenn and his family lived at Syon Lodge, Isleworth, Middlesex, where he built up a library of 25,000 volumes and took up telescope making. His last book was a biography of a great fellow writer of boys' stories, George Alfred Henty. He died at home on 26 August 1909.
Fenn, the third child and eldest son of a butler, Charles Fenn, was largely self-educated, teaching himself French, German and Italian. After studying at Battersea Training College for Teachers (1851-4), he became the master of a national school at Alford, Lincolnshire. He later became a printer, editor and publisher of short-lived periodicals, before attracting the attention of Charles Dickens and others with a sketch for All the Year Round in 1864. He contributed to Chambers's Journal and Once a Week. In 1866, he wrote a series of articles on working-class life for the newspaper The Star. These were collected and republished in four volumes. They were followed by a similar series in the Weekly Times.
Meanwhile he was married in 1855 to Susanna Leak, daughter of John Leak of Alford. They had two sons and six daughters.
Fenn's first story for boys, Hollowdell Grange, appeared in 1867. It was followed by countless other novels for juveniles and adults. Over 170 of them are thought to have been published in book form. Having become editor of Cassell's Magazine in 1870, he purchased Once a Week and edited it until it closed in 1879. He also wrote for the theatre.
Fenn and his family lived at Syon Lodge, Isleworth, Middlesex, where he built up a library of 25,000 volumes and took up telescope making. His last book was a biography of a great fellow writer of boys' stories, George Alfred Henty. He died at home on 26 August 1909.
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March 2, 2017
Storyteller Sep Duncan and his two pals Bigley Uggleston (what a great name!) and Bob Chowne are the three youngsters who feature most in Manville Fenn's 'Devon Boys'. They are growing up with a mischievous and adventurous streak on the Devon coast in the late 18th-century.
The boys parents are always concerned about the lads' well-being with Bob's father the local doctor, Bigley's father a sailor but with suspiciously nefarious undertones such as smuggling, and Sep's father is a land owner. And that last mentioned fact caused trouble between the Duncan's and the Uggleston's for Captain Duncan (he had been a serving soldier earlier in his career) had bought the land, named The Gap ahead of Jonas Uggleston.
Uggleston was always resentful about the deal and particularly so when lead with traces of silver were found on a mine on the land. Captain Duncan began mining it and separating the silver so as to sell it on. The resentment sometimes caused a rift between the two boys, Sep and Bigley, and with Bob being a little moody, sometimes the three-way relationship was strained. But at the end of the day, they always resolved their problems and remained firm friends.
The boys spent much of their time on the cliffs around what was known at The Gap and were very adventurous in exploring every little detail of the area. This led them into various scrapes, such as blowing up the top of the cliff to see what would result down on the beach below, searching for crabs in the various caves below the cliffs and getting trapped by the tide within one of them and going out to sea in one of the rowing boats their fathers' owned and getting caught in a storm.
In addition Sep and Bob were always on the lookout for Jonas Uggleston's activities and were convinced that he was a smuggler; of course, Bigley would have none of it. And when marooned in the ocean they were rescued by a French ship whose captain took them home safely and as a consequence became friendly with Captain Duncan.
This friendship was tested to the limit some time later when the French invaded the English coast and a minor battle was fought with the Devonians losing some of their thatched cottages that were set alight. While attacking the Frenchies stole the silver that Captain Duncan had stored in a secret place and it became obvious that someone had tipped them off - Jonas was the number one suspect. And when he disappeared with the eventually fleeing Frenchmen, who had been surprised by a fleet of English ships coming to the defence of the others, there was nothing more certain. Jonas never did return, sending money home to Captain Duncan so that he would look after Bigley.
Fortunately everything turned out well, for some of the French were captured, others escaped and some of their boats returning to the main ship were sunk. It transpired that the silver was also sunk when this happened so it was left to Captain Duncan and his men to salvage it from the ocean floor. This was done with the heroes of the hour being two of the boys who dived down and managed to secure the boxes in a way that allowed them to be raised, one by one, from the ocean.
The three boys never relate anything to do with school, they fast forward each time they return to classes to the follwoing school holiday for as they said, 'Nothing ever happens at school.'
It is not the most exciting adventure story ever told but it does capture very well the ambience of the Devon coast and the characters are very life-like and believable. After all, it is a Victorian novel so the telling of tales for boys was somewhat different in those days.
The boys parents are always concerned about the lads' well-being with Bob's father the local doctor, Bigley's father a sailor but with suspiciously nefarious undertones such as smuggling, and Sep's father is a land owner. And that last mentioned fact caused trouble between the Duncan's and the Uggleston's for Captain Duncan (he had been a serving soldier earlier in his career) had bought the land, named The Gap ahead of Jonas Uggleston.
Uggleston was always resentful about the deal and particularly so when lead with traces of silver were found on a mine on the land. Captain Duncan began mining it and separating the silver so as to sell it on. The resentment sometimes caused a rift between the two boys, Sep and Bigley, and with Bob being a little moody, sometimes the three-way relationship was strained. But at the end of the day, they always resolved their problems and remained firm friends.
The boys spent much of their time on the cliffs around what was known at The Gap and were very adventurous in exploring every little detail of the area. This led them into various scrapes, such as blowing up the top of the cliff to see what would result down on the beach below, searching for crabs in the various caves below the cliffs and getting trapped by the tide within one of them and going out to sea in one of the rowing boats their fathers' owned and getting caught in a storm.
In addition Sep and Bob were always on the lookout for Jonas Uggleston's activities and were convinced that he was a smuggler; of course, Bigley would have none of it. And when marooned in the ocean they were rescued by a French ship whose captain took them home safely and as a consequence became friendly with Captain Duncan.
This friendship was tested to the limit some time later when the French invaded the English coast and a minor battle was fought with the Devonians losing some of their thatched cottages that were set alight. While attacking the Frenchies stole the silver that Captain Duncan had stored in a secret place and it became obvious that someone had tipped them off - Jonas was the number one suspect. And when he disappeared with the eventually fleeing Frenchmen, who had been surprised by a fleet of English ships coming to the defence of the others, there was nothing more certain. Jonas never did return, sending money home to Captain Duncan so that he would look after Bigley.
Fortunately everything turned out well, for some of the French were captured, others escaped and some of their boats returning to the main ship were sunk. It transpired that the silver was also sunk when this happened so it was left to Captain Duncan and his men to salvage it from the ocean floor. This was done with the heroes of the hour being two of the boys who dived down and managed to secure the boxes in a way that allowed them to be raised, one by one, from the ocean.
The three boys never relate anything to do with school, they fast forward each time they return to classes to the follwoing school holiday for as they said, 'Nothing ever happens at school.'
It is not the most exciting adventure story ever told but it does capture very well the ambience of the Devon coast and the characters are very life-like and believable. After all, it is a Victorian novel so the telling of tales for boys was somewhat different in those days.
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