Duncan Walker
George Manville Fenn of Syon Lodge (1831–1909)
Another prolific Brentford author, George Manville Fenn was a writer of fiction for over fifty years. He wrote over 170 novels. He lived at Syon Lodge, London Road, just before Busch Corner.
There is a good review of his works here.
He died at his home, Syon Lodge, London Road on August 27, 1909, leaving a splendid library of over 25,000 well-chosen volumes, and an estate which was sworn for probate at £11,778.
Apart from his literary achievements, George Manville Fenn was an expert gardener.
I found this lovely article, which was published in 1912 and it refers to George Manville Fenn being a good friend of another local author R D Blackmoore, the author of Lorna Doone. Blackmoore lived in Teddington and the article mentions their common pastime of growing and selling fruit from their gardens:
“[Blackmoore] sending his fruits to Covent Garden, and his novels to Fleet Street or thereabout to make good the losses on the fruit. He paid for his hobby, in part at least, with his books, and in doing so did not feel that he was making a sacrifice of them or of his dignity. It was exceptionally fine fruit that filled the round wicker baskets of the familiar pattern which, bearing his name in big black letters, were trundled down to market along the level highway, orchard-bound, between Teddington and Brentford to meet at Busch Corner, where the Isleworth Road connects with the Hounslow Road, the similar produce of another novelist, a friend of his, and a dear old friend of mine, George Manville Fenn, who for a quarter of a century or more divided himself between the loom of fiction and a walled, old-world garden within the bounds of the Duke of Northumberland's Syon Park. If testimony is wanted I am willing to affirm that better fruit than that of R. D. Blackmore and George Manville Fenn was never sent to market: nor ever had the brotherhood of gardeners more honest or more enthusiastic followers than they. What pleasant memories spring from the alleys and coverts of Fenn's garden, with masses of glowing flowers, its lawn and the pavilion-like mulberry trees and weeping ashes that sheltered us in their cool and dappled shade at tea-time ! The two men were not unlike in their tastes and temperaments. Both were tall, genial, and mild; both charmed by a sort of radiant simplicity.”
Syon Lodge, where Fenn lived until 1909, was built in 1770 as the Dower House to Syon House by the architect Robert Adam. The Crowther family bought the house in 1928 and used it for their Architectural Antiques business until 2005, when they restored it and put it on the market in 2007 for £7m. See their brochure for a look around:
I don’t know whether the Black Mulberry tree is still there, which was referred to in 1909 in a book ‘Wayside and Woodland Blossoms’ :
“It may surprise some of our readers to learn that the Mulberry-tree is not a native, though it is a familiar object in old gardens and parks. It is generally stated that the first Mulberry-trees were introduced in 1548 and planted at Syon House, Isleworth (then the Convent of St. Bridget of Zion), but the Duke of Northumberland is credited with saying early in the present century that he could then trace them back quite three hundred years. Several of this batch are still living, and one - probably the finest old Mulberry in England - is a hale and vigorous ornament to Mr. George Manville Fenn's lawn at Syon Lodge.”
George Manville Fenn's books are online at Athelstane.co.uk and you can download his books free in e-book formats from ManyBooks.