Naomi Jacob
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Naomi Jacob b 1885 - d Aug 27th 1964, Author, Actress and Broadcaster
Naomi Eleanor Claire Jacob was a well loved novelist, broadcaster and actress in her day. She was born in Ripon in 1885, the second daughter of Samuel Jacob and Nina Collinson. Her father was Headmaster of what is now Ripon Grammar School whilst and her mother was a teacher. Naomi Pseudonym Ellington Gray show her close connections to the town. Her grandfather Robert Ellington Collinson was a Mayor of the town and owner of the Unicorn Hotel [1] where the Prince of Wales once stayed. Her Great Grandfather Thomas was only the Second Chief Police office for the town.
Naomi had a difficult upbringing. Her parents divorced because of her fathers wayward follies and his violent temper. She wanted to finish her schooling and went to live in Middlesbrough and taught as a student teacher in the town. Her Sister Mu and mother moved down south to start a new life.
She left the teaching profession to become an actress in review. It was arround the same time that she contracted TB, a condition that was to affect her for the rest of her life. With physical activity becoming more difficult, Naomi Jacob channelled her creative efforts into writing. AS well as a number of novels such as the Gollantz Saga and an Irish Boy, Naomi wrote non-fiction, biographies and newspaper collumns. Her mother also became a novelist publishing under the name Nina Abbott.
Because of her strong links to the theatre, she was a well know figure in the business. Known by her friends as Micky, she had a strong circle of friends Radclyffe Hall, Little Titch, Marie Lloyd and many others. She was also active politically standing as a Labour MP and becoming involve with the women's suffrerage movement. In one of her autobiographies she mentions putting an alarm clock in a tin box and placing it next to the door of Liberal Prime Minister Lloyd George's seaside home. The ticking box had to be rushed away and thrown in the sea by concerned friends who believed it to be a bomb.
Micky moved to Lake Garda in 1930 because the weather was kinder to her lungs. There is a blue plaque errected in Sirmione where she lived in her honour. She was well known in the town and her home was known as Casa Micky. During the war she returned to the UK to help in the war effort. She worked in the theatre corps producing morale boosting broadcasts and live performances for the troops. She never gave up her home in Italy and returned soon afterwards.
Her novels tend to stay within the realms of romantic fiction. Her books are well read in libraries throught the English speaking world and there are rumours that her books are being considered by film producers. Her work has many critics who believe her work to be like the work of Barbara Taylor Bradford nowadays. Recent studies of her work in Sheffield Hallam University [2] believe her work to be of greater value. Her novels often tackle the issue of prejudice against jews, domestic violence and the political consequences of Pogroms in the nineteenth century. Many of these books were written before the second world war and were based on the experiences of her paternal family who escaped violence in Western Prussia.
Micky isn't well known nowadays but in her day Naomi Jacob was a well loved a respected figure despite her eccentric manner and her relationships with high profile actresses. No 'scandal could dim her enthusiasm for her work nor the kindness that many saw in her. Shed died in 1964.
Links:
1. British Library [[3]]
2. The Hilda Tablet [4]
3. The family's love of wildlife can be demonstrated here [5]
Bibliography
Books
Power,
Jacob Ussher, Under New Management
Rock and Sand, The Cap of Youth
Young Emmanuel, Leopards and Spots
The Beloved Physician, Private Gollantz
The Man Who Found Himself, White Wool
Sean Unknown ..., Honour's a Mistress
That Wild Lie ..., A Passage Perilous
The Plough, Gollantz
Roots, Mary of Delight
Props, Every Other Gift
Poor Straw, The Heart of the House
Groping, They Left The Land
The Loaded Stick, Sally Scarf
Generations, Staws in Amber
Honour Come Back, The Porcelain Clay
The founder of the House, No Easy Way<
Barren Metal, The Lenient God
Time Piece, Fade Out
Antonia, An Irish Boy
Plays The Dawn, Mary of Delight
Autobiographies Robert, Nana and Me, Me: A Chronicle about other people
Our Marie - Marie Lloyd, Me Again
Me in Wartime, Me in the Kitchen
Me in the Mediterranean, Me over there
Me and Mine, Me Looking back
