A Paul Scott Chronology

Jacqueline Banerjee, Ph.D

1920 Paul Mark Scott born 25 March to Tom Scott and Frances (née) Mark, in Southgate, N. London.
1929 Enters the Winchmore Hill Collegiate School.
c.1934-1935 Withdrawn from school; taken on as accountant's boy by C.T. Payne in Regent Street.
1940 Enlists as a private in the 8th Battalion, the Buffs. Posted to Torquay. Poetic trilogy, I, Gerontius, published.
1941 Marries Nancy Edith Avery (Penny).
1942 Poems published in Poetry Quarterly and the anthology, Poets of This War.
1943 Posted to India and sent to the Officers' Training School at Belgaum in western India. Commissioned into the Royal Indian Army Service Corps.
1944 Sent to Assam as second in command of a section of No. 1 Indian Air Supply Command. Promoted to Captain. Accompanies some flights into Burma.
1945 Posted to Malaya for mopping-up operations.
1946 Demobilized in Deolali after six months in Bihar. Appointed bookkeeper to Falcon and Grey Walls Press, rising to Company Secretary.
1947 Birth of first daughter, Carol Vivien.
1948 Pillars of Salt published as one of Four Jewish Plays. Birth of second daughter, Sally Elizabeth.
1950 Becomes a Literary Agent with Pearn, Pollinger and Higham.
1952 Radio play, Lines of Communication, broadcast and subsequently adapted for television. First novel, Johnnie Sahib, wins the Eyre and Spottiswode Literary Award.
1953 The Alien Sky published.
1954 Appointed to directorship at Pearn, Pollinger and Higham. Radio adaptation of The Alien Sky.
1956 Television adaptation of The Alien Sky. A Male Child published.
1958 The Mark of the Warrior published. Radio play, Sahibs and Memsahibs, broadcast. Death of Tom Scott; breach with Frances Scott.
1959 First of several visits to the Costa Brava. Radio adaptation of The Mark of the Warrior.
1960 The Chinese Love Pavilion published. Resigns from Higham's.
1962 The Birds of Paradise published.
1963 Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. The Bender published. Travels to the U.S. for the American launch.
1964 The Corrida at San Feliu published. First return visit to India. Television adaptation of The Bender.
1966 The Jewel in the Crown published.
1968 The Day of the Scorpion published.
1969 The Towers of Silence published. Another visit to India.
1972 British Council lecture tour in India.
1974 A Division of the Spoils published.
1975 Lecture trip to America, speaking at campuses in Texas, Washington, Maryland and Illinois.
1976 Staying On published. Penny starts legal proceedings to end the marriage. Visiting Professorship for the fall semester at the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma.
1977 Travels to the U.S. for the American launch of Staying On and a summer school programme in Detroit. Operated on for colon cancer on his visit to Tulsa. Staying On awarded the Booker Prize. Reunited with Penny on return to England.
1978 Dies in the Middlesex Hospital, London on 1 March, after a second operation for cancer.

United Kingdom Paul Scott

Last modified 24 May 2005