H.C. Adams (1817–1899)
Author of Travellers' Tales: A Book of Marvels
About the Author
Series
Works by H.C. Adams
The Cherry-Stones; or, The Force of Conscience: A Tale of Charlton School (1851) 3 copies, 2 reviews
Tales of Charlton School 1 copy
Wykehamica. A History of Winchester College and Commoners, From the Foundation to the Present Day (2016) 1 copy
Commerce today Books 1 & 2 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Adams, H.C.
- Legal name
- Adams, Henry Cadwallader
- Birthdate
- 1817-11-04
- Date of death
- 1899-10-17
- Gender
- male
- Education
- Westminster School
Winchester College
Balliol College, Oxford
Magdalen College, Oxford - Occupations
- Clergyman
children's book author - Organizations
- Bromley College (chaplain)
- Relationships
- Adams, William (brother)
Adams, Charles Warren (half-brother)
Adams, Charlotte (step-mother) - Short biography
- Henry Cadwallader Adams (1817-1899) was a British clergyman, educator and children's author, best known for his many contributions to the boys' school story genre. Born into a notable Warwickshire family, he was educated at Westminster School, Winchester College, Balliol College (1835) and Magdalen College, Oxford (1836), becoming a fellow of Magdalen in 1843. After some time as a school-master at Winchester, in 1855 he became the chaplain of Bromley College, an almshouse for the widows of clergy. In 1852 he married Esther Edmonds, and went on to become the vicar of Dry Sandford and later Old Shoreham (1878-1896).
Adams' first work to be published was The Cherry-Stones (1851), a school story begun by his brother, William Adams, which he completed after his brother's death in 1848. H.C. Adams was also the step-son of children's author Charlotte Adams, and the elder half-brother of novelist Charles Warren Adams. He died in 1899, having produced over thirty novels, mostly for younger people. - Nationality
- UK
- Birthplace
- London, England, UK
- Map Location
- UK
Members
Reviews
This boarding school story is written in the tradition of Thomas Hughes' Tom Brown's School Days, rather than in the lighter, more humorous style of Talbot Barnes Reed. The tone is sober and it has an obvious didactic intention, but H. C. Adams does not break the narration to address and lecture the reader directly, like Thomas Hughes did. He tries to teach through what happens in the story, and it's well written and the details about the school seem quite plausible.
Like in Tom Brown, the show more story follows the school career of the main characters. Halminster is an urban school, and the boys live in small boarding houses that function quite independently, and take their classes at the school. In this book, more than in others of the genre I have read, you appreciate how these boys are "young gentlemen", and at times the activities and freedom of movement of the senior boys are what you would expect for young men at college, although in other ways they are quite regulated.
The story starts in media res, but soon we go back in time several years and see how our main characters, Cole and Austen, arrive at the school as young boys, and how a teacher bullies them and makes them bitter towards authority, in spite of the help of their kindly housemaster, Mr. Holford. Also, they have the bad influence of their mates at their boarding house. Although both boys are nice kids, all the circumstances around them contribute to put them at moral risk.
In the school there is a lot of interest for nautical sports, and the annual race between the different school houses is a highlight of school life. Precisely in a boating incident Austen almost dies, and Cole saves his life at high risk to his own. Having been near death, Austen is ill after the accident. Even though he had seemed the one most in danger of getting in serious trouble, during his convalescence he suffers a change of heart and goes back to the good, moral path.
The story then becomes a fight for Cole's soul, with Austen as the good influence and several other of his friends as the bad influence. Everything gets complicated when the boys go poaching at a forest near the town and Cole accidentally shoots his weapon when they are being pursued, convincing the gamekeeper that the boy, whom he doesn't know, has tried to shoot him.
Suspecting the involvement of some students, the landowner complains to the headmaster and an investigation is undertaken. As they try to hide their responsibility in the incident, the boys get more and more caught up in a web of lies and deception. Austen becomes very unpopular when he tells them that he is not willing to lie if questioned, and one of the other boys is quite clever in engineering circumstances so that Austen never gets asked directly the question that would make him reveal what he knows.
This all sounds heavy-handed and preachy, but the writer is more subtle than that, and he makes the characters and events believable. The bad boys are not villainous, it's just that their moral compass is lax in certain situations. I enjoyed the conversations between Cole and Austen about the right thing to do (Cole had convinced himself that it was honourable to lie under questioning when telling the truth or even refusing to answer would get other people in trouble). The only unsubtle moment is when Cole's mother gets injured in a convenient accident to get Cole out of the school when the plot requires it and to put him through a guilt trip (he realizes the accident happened at the same time he was lying to the school prefects charged with investigating the shooting incident).
Finally, the suspicions fall on Austen himself, and he receives a terrible beating from the "cane-happy" head boy when he refuses to answer his questions, when telling the truth would have proven his own innocence but would have got his friend Cole in trouble. Needless to say, everything ends well and the fight for Cole's soul is won.
It's a good story and, like in Tom Brown School Days, I found the depictions of the school life interesting and authentic. H. C. Adams is not among the best-known writers of boarding school stories of the same period, but this proves that he belongs among them. show less
Like in Tom Brown, the show more story follows the school career of the main characters. Halminster is an urban school, and the boys live in small boarding houses that function quite independently, and take their classes at the school. In this book, more than in others of the genre I have read, you appreciate how these boys are "young gentlemen", and at times the activities and freedom of movement of the senior boys are what you would expect for young men at college, although in other ways they are quite regulated.
The story starts in media res, but soon we go back in time several years and see how our main characters, Cole and Austen, arrive at the school as young boys, and how a teacher bullies them and makes them bitter towards authority, in spite of the help of their kindly housemaster, Mr. Holford. Also, they have the bad influence of their mates at their boarding house. Although both boys are nice kids, all the circumstances around them contribute to put them at moral risk.
In the school there is a lot of interest for nautical sports, and the annual race between the different school houses is a highlight of school life. Precisely in a boating incident Austen almost dies, and Cole saves his life at high risk to his own. Having been near death, Austen is ill after the accident. Even though he had seemed the one most in danger of getting in serious trouble, during his convalescence he suffers a change of heart and goes back to the good, moral path.
The story then becomes a fight for Cole's soul, with Austen as the good influence and several other of his friends as the bad influence. Everything gets complicated when the boys go poaching at a forest near the town and Cole accidentally shoots his weapon when they are being pursued, convincing the gamekeeper that the boy, whom he doesn't know, has tried to shoot him.
Suspecting the involvement of some students, the landowner complains to the headmaster and an investigation is undertaken. As they try to hide their responsibility in the incident, the boys get more and more caught up in a web of lies and deception. Austen becomes very unpopular when he tells them that he is not willing to lie if questioned, and one of the other boys is quite clever in engineering circumstances so that Austen never gets asked directly the question that would make him reveal what he knows.
This all sounds heavy-handed and preachy, but the writer is more subtle than that, and he makes the characters and events believable. The bad boys are not villainous, it's just that their moral compass is lax in certain situations. I enjoyed the conversations between Cole and Austen about the right thing to do (Cole had convinced himself that it was honourable to lie under questioning when telling the truth or even refusing to answer would get other people in trouble). The only unsubtle moment is when Cole's mother gets injured in a convenient accident to get Cole out of the school when the plot requires it and to put him through a guilt trip (he realizes the accident happened at the same time he was lying to the school prefects charged with investigating the shooting incident).
Finally, the suspicions fall on Austen himself, and he receives a terrible beating from the "cane-happy" head boy when he refuses to answer his questions, when telling the truth would have proven his own innocence but would have got his friend Cole in trouble. Needless to say, everything ends well and the fight for Cole's soul is won.
It's a good story and, like in Tom Brown School Days, I found the depictions of the school life interesting and authentic. H. C. Adams is not among the best-known writers of boarding school stories of the same period, but this proves that he belongs among them. show less
Thirteen-year-old Harry Mertoun discovers that his transgressions cannot easily be put aside in this Victorian school-story for boys, as he is haunted, not just by his conscience, but by the stones of the seven ripe cherries he stole one night from Squire Ellison's orchard. A diligent scholar and an accomplished cricket player, Harry is popular with pupils and masters alike at Charlton School, and is in the running for the first prize in both classics and ciphering. But when his feat in show more retrieving a lost cricket ball from the squire's orchard - an area declared strictly off-limits by headmaster Dr. Young - leads the other boys to express their admiration, the attention goes to his head. Small sins soon lead to larger ones - the first two chapters of The Cherry-Stones are in fact entitled "The Slight Act of Disobedience" and "The Grave Act of Disobedience" - and when Harry is taunted by his schoolfellow Edward Sharpe, who claims that no schoolboy would be daring enough to help himself to some of the bounty of that forbidden orchard, his vanity and love of adventure lead him to sneak out late at night and steal a handful of the squire's cherries. Although immediately repentant, Harry cannot bring himself to confess his wrong to Dr. Young, as he does not want to lose his chance at the prizes - only awarded to boys in good moral standing - or to face the embarrassment his deed will bring him before his schoolfellows and family. But though he tries to think of the matter as over and done, he discovers it is not so simple, especially when cherry stones begin to appear in the most unlikely places, from his pocket to his shoe. Shaken by these mysterious reminders of his guilt, Harry is driven almost to distraction, but even bad dreams and a quarrel with his close friend Charles Warbeck aren't enough to convince him to come forward...
Originally published in 1851, some six years before the far more famous Tom Brown's School Days, this boys' school-story was begun by the Rev. William Adams, who (according to the preface) would relate parts of it to his young relatives at the Christmas holidays. Left unfinished when he died in 1848, the manuscript was taken up by Adams' brother, the Rev. H.C. (Henry Cadwallader) Adams, who completed it and prepared it for publication. H.C. Adams would go on to pen many more boys' school-stories, but The Cherry-Stones marks his first entry into the genre. This is an overtly didactic work of Christian fiction, as is so common with children's books in the Victorian period, and the narrator frequently inserts moral commentary into the story, explaining the motivations (and failings) of his main character in some detail. Harry is described, for instance, as being particularly vulnerable on the night of his "grave disobedience," because he fails to say his nightly prayers; and the book closes with a warning that one small step from the right path can lead in a direction that is altogether wrong. Despite the didacticism, there is some genuine appeal to the story, and it is fascinating (and sometimes amusing) to observe Harry's confusion and growing distress, as cherry-stones begin popping up in all kinds of unlikely places. I had my own suspicions as to how and why they were appearing (and it didn't involve anything supernatural!), but my guess thatDr. Young was aware of Harry's transgression, and was using the cherry-stones to teach him a lesson and to cause him to come forward on his own , proved to be incorrect. That too increased my enjoyment, as I like to be kept guessing. I don't know that this will have much appeal to the contemporary child reader, but to scholars interested in the history of the boys' school story (or in school stories in general), or in Victorian Christian didacticism, it might prove quite rewarding. show less
Originally published in 1851, some six years before the far more famous Tom Brown's School Days, this boys' school-story was begun by the Rev. William Adams, who (according to the preface) would relate parts of it to his young relatives at the Christmas holidays. Left unfinished when he died in 1848, the manuscript was taken up by Adams' brother, the Rev. H.C. (Henry Cadwallader) Adams, who completed it and prepared it for publication. H.C. Adams would go on to pen many more boys' school-stories, but The Cherry-Stones marks his first entry into the genre. This is an overtly didactic work of Christian fiction, as is so common with children's books in the Victorian period, and the narrator frequently inserts moral commentary into the story, explaining the motivations (and failings) of his main character in some detail. Harry is described, for instance, as being particularly vulnerable on the night of his "grave disobedience," because he fails to say his nightly prayers; and the book closes with a warning that one small step from the right path can lead in a direction that is altogether wrong. Despite the didacticism, there is some genuine appeal to the story, and it is fascinating (and sometimes amusing) to observe Harry's confusion and growing distress, as cherry-stones begin popping up in all kinds of unlikely places. I had my own suspicions as to how and why they were appearing (and it didn't involve anything supernatural!), but my guess that
This is quite short, a novella rather than a novel. I was surprised to see it had been published in 1851, years earlier that Tom Brown's School Days, the book that shaped the genre of Victorian boarding school fiction. This novella doesn't have too much to do with the conventions of that genre, however. It's just a little morality tale that happens to take place in a boarding school. It's not a public school, but a school for younger children. Harry Mertoun, the main character, is about show more 12-years-old, and a senior boy at that school. The book is also targeted to younger children, so the moral lesson is less sophisticated.
The story starts when Harry climbs the wall that separates the school playground from a neighboring orchard to rescue a lost ball, gaining the admiration of the other boys. However, later he is tempted by the memory of the ripe cherries in the orchard, so he climbs again during the night and eats some cherries. He does not take pleasure in them, however, as he is struck by the conscience that he is actually stealing. He buries the cherry-stones and tries to forget about them.
However, the stones mysteriously start to appear one by one, putting him in a state of nerves and remorse. He does not want to confess his bad action, fearful of losing the prize to the best student that will be given in a few days. However, his conscience and the appearance of the cherry-stones won't leave him alone. (The mystery is solved by the end, and it's not anything supernatural).
Even though Adams is a fine writer and I like these Victorian schoolboy tales, including their themes of morality and personal honor, the whole thing is rather heavy-handed here, I felt. The book would have benefited from a longer extension so that more secondary plots could have been added and the characters developed more. A fast, entertaining read, but I enjoyed the other book by this author I have read (Schoolboy Honour) much more. That one is written for older boys and, although it makes some similar moral points, it is a better tale and not so unsubtle in its moral. show less
The story starts when Harry climbs the wall that separates the school playground from a neighboring orchard to rescue a lost ball, gaining the admiration of the other boys. However, later he is tempted by the memory of the ripe cherries in the orchard, so he climbs again during the night and eats some cherries. He does not take pleasure in them, however, as he is struck by the conscience that he is actually stealing. He buries the cherry-stones and tries to forget about them.
However, the stones mysteriously start to appear one by one, putting him in a state of nerves and remorse. He does not want to confess his bad action, fearful of losing the prize to the best student that will be given in a few days. However, his conscience and the appearance of the cherry-stones won't leave him alone. (The mystery is solved by the end, and it's not anything supernatural).
Even though Adams is a fine writer and I like these Victorian schoolboy tales, including their themes of morality and personal honor, the whole thing is rather heavy-handed here, I felt. The book would have benefited from a longer extension so that more secondary plots could have been added and the characters developed more. A fast, entertaining read, but I enjoyed the other book by this author I have read (Schoolboy Honour) much more. That one is written for older boys and, although it makes some similar moral points, it is a better tale and not so unsubtle in its moral. show less
The back of the dust cover has "Strange Tales of Fabulous Creatures for All Ages" printed on it. In his introduction, Mr. Van Loon suggests "...queer beasts and monsters, whose authenticity however had been vouched for by some of the most eminently respectable liars among our ancient navigators". I bought it because of it's connection with the illustration skills of Hendrik Willem Van Loon and I enjoyed the stories but the writing of them would, I think, have been done in a more memorable show more way by Mr. Van Loon himself. show less
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Statistics
- Works
- 35
- Members
- 62
- Popularity
- #271,093
- Rating
- 3.5
- Reviews
- 4
- ISBNs
- 6