Robert Tressell

Irish writer Robert Tressell (1870-1911) was a house painter and the illegitimate son of a retired magistrate. He was born Robert Noonan in Dublin in 1870 and moved to England in 1901. He worked briefly in South Africa and began writing under the pen name Tressell. His work is believed to have been largely based on his experiences of poverty, exploitation, and the fear that his daughter Kathleen would be consigned to the workhouse if he became ill. The novel is set in the fictional town of...See more

Irish writer Robert Tressell (1870-1911) was a house painter and the illegitimate son of a retired magistrate. He was born Robert Noonan in Dublin in 1870 and moved to England in 1901. He worked briefly in South Africa and began writing under the pen name Tressell. His work is believed to have been largely based on his experiences of poverty, exploitation, and the fear that his daughter Kathleen would be consigned to the workhouse if he became ill. The novel is set in the fictional town of Mugsborough, based on the southern English coastal town of Hastings, and the original title page of the book carried the subtitle: "Being the story of twelve months in Hell, told by one of the damned, and written down by Robert Tressell." The book was completed in 1910, but no one had published it before the author's death in 1911. His daughter, determined to have her father's writing published, showed it to a friend, writer Jessie Pope. Pope's publisher bought the rights in April 1914. See less