Howard Spring

He was forced to leave school at the age of twelve, when his father died, to start work as an errand boy.

He was keen to train as a reporter, and spent his leisure time learning shorthand and taking evening classes at Cardiff University, where he studied English, French, Latin, mathematics and history.

In 1911 he joined the Yorkshire Observer in Bradford before moving in 1915 to the Manchester Guardian, but was there only a few months before he was called up for the Royal Army Service Corps as a shorthand typist.

At the same time, Spring was developing his ambitions as a writer; his first book, Darkie and Co., a children's story, came out in 1932, followed by his first novel, Shabby Tiger, which was set in Manchester, published by William Collins, Sons in 1934.

It starred John Nolan as Nick and Prunella Gee as Anna, with Sharon Maughan making her TV debut as the glamorous and ambitious Rachel Rosing.

[5] It gained success in America, listed as a national fiction best seller in The English Journal for eight consecutive months, starting in July 1948[6].

Spring was a successful writer, who combined a wide understanding of human character with technical skill as a novelist.

In 1967, his widow, Marion Spring, wrote an affectionate story of their life together, called Howard, with a foreword by A. L. Rowse.