15 boxes (6.25 linear feet), 1 oversize folder
Acquisition: Gift, 1989 (G2181)
Access: Open for research
Processed by: Hans Rasmussen, Skye Thomsen,Colleen Whitney, 1999; Richard Workman, 2003
RLIN Record ID: TXRC03-A17
Beevers married Marjorie Pollard in 1934. He published his first book, World Without Faith, a defense of free thought over structured ideology, the following year. Beevers also began his journalism career at this time with stints on several newspapers. He worked exclusively for the British Broadcasting Corporation from 1941 to 1969.
John Beevers embraced revolutionary Communism in the 1930s, but converted to Roman Catholicism sometime in the 1940s. Although nominally a Catholic, Beevers had an ambiguous relationship to the church. While he admired its theology and the lives of Catholic saints, Beevers?s critical and lascivious nature prevented him from fully committing to the faith, particularly in its moral elements. Marjorie Beevers demonstrated a greater devotion to Roman Catholicism than her husband.
John Beevers aspired to write fiction and poetry, but never had much success in these genres. He privately printed a volume of poetry, The Dark Emperor, under the pseudonym John Clayton in 1947, but failed to publish any more imaginative literature. Instead, Beevers turned to writing biographies of Roman Catholic saints, beginning with Storm of Glory: St. Therese of Lisieux (1949). John Beevers is best known for his 15 works on saints? lives, Marian apparitions, and translations of Catholic theological treatises. He has been credited with presenting balanced accounts of his subjects, avoiding both brusque skepticism and unquestioning piety.
John and Marjorie Beevers had one daughter, Susan Jane. Marjorie Beevers died in 1962. John Beevers married his mistress, Marjorie Broadbridge, the following year. He continued writing until his death on 13 September 1975.
The bulk of the collection consists of Beevers's correspondence with his two wives, both before and after marriage. He worked in Manchester and then in London, his wives lived at their country home in Baughurst Parish, Hampshire, and most of the letters are concerned with routine matters: family concerns, personal and business schedules, meetings with friends, shopping, and--one of Beevers's strongest passions--food; he seldom refers to his writing. Most of the rest of the correspondence is from Sylvester Mooney, abbot of Douai Abbey in Woolhampton near Reading, who was a friend and advisor to both Beevers and his first wife; the collection includes only Mooney's letters and none to Mooney from either John or Marjorie Beevers. Mooney's letters to John concern the subjects of John's books, while those to Marjorie respond to her confidences about marital and spiritual problems.
In addition to manuscripts for three of his published works, the collection contains several drafts of an unpublished novel about the emperor Tiberius, and several stories and sketches with strong sexual content and a focus on sadism and flagellation, interests that appear also in his letters to Marjorie Broadbridge. The diaries are devoted to daily routines, especially eating and drinking; they shed no light on his writing or on his career in journalism.
Box Folder Description
1 1 A-M Beevers, Marjorie Broadbridge, 1949-1975, n.d. 2 1949-1959 3 1960-1961 4 1962 5 1963-1969 6 1970-1975 7 Undated Beevers, Marjorie Pollard, 1933-1962, n.d. 8 Apr.-May 1933 2 1 June 1933 2 1-15 July 1933 3 16-31 July 1933 4 1-16 Aug. 1933 5 17-31 Aug. 1933 3 1 Sept. 1933 2 Nov. 1933-Aug. 1941 3 Sept. 1941 4 Oct.-Nov. 1941 5 Dec. 1941 4 1 Jan.-Feb. 1942 2 March-May 1942 3 June-July 1942 4 Aug.-Sept. 1942 5 Oct.-Nov. 1942 5 1 Dec. 1942-Feb. 1943 2 March-Apr. 1943 3 May-June 1943 4 July-Aug. 1943 5 Sept.-Oct. 1943 6 1 Nov.-Dec. 1943 2 Jan.-Feb. 1944 3 March-Apr. 1944 4 May-June 1944 5 July-Aug. 1944 6 Sept.-Oct. 1944 7 1 Nov.-Dec. 1944 2 Jan.-Feb. 1945 3 March-May 1945 4 June-Dec. 1945 5 Jan.-June 1946 8 1 July-Dec. 1946 2 1947 3 Jan.-June 1948 4 July-Dec. 1948 5 1949 6 1950-1951 9 1 1952-1954 2 1955-1956 3 1957-1962 4 Undated Mooney, Sylvester, 1945-1975 5 1945-1946 6 1947-1948 7 1949-1953 10 1 1954-1975 2 N-Z, unidentified
ABANDONMENT TO DIVINE PROVIDENCE (1975), translation 3 Handwritten draft with Introduction, n.d. 4 Typed printer's copy with title page dummy, 1975 5 THE DARK EMPEROR (1947; written under pseudonym "John Clayton"), handwritten and typed manuscripts, printed copy, 1945, 1947 Diaries 6 1937, 1962 7 1971-1972 11 1 1974 2 1975, with annotations by Marjorie Broadbridge Beevers, 1975-1976 3 From Pir?s, photocopy of printed copy, 1930 4 Girls, n.d. 5 The Making of a Saint (or) the Making of St. Therese, 1964 6 A MAN FOR NOW: THE LIFE OF DAMIEN THE LEPER (1974), n.d. 7 Notebooks, n.d. 12 1 Notebooks (continued) 2 Poems, handwritten and typescript, 1926-1934 3 Stories (untitled), handwritten, n.d. Tiberius 4 Handwritten draft, 1959 5-6 Handwritten draft, n.d. 13 1-3 Original typescript (incomplete) and carbon copy, n.d. 4 The Way in Which God Speaks to Us & How We Should Listen to Him, handwritten, 1973 5 Unidentified, n.d.
6 Business documents, 1968, n.d. 7 Commercial catalogs, n.d. 8 Financial documents, 1964-1967 9 Passport, 1966 10 Photograph album, n.d. 11 School Records, 1927-1933 12 Miscellaneous and unidentified, 1966, 1975
Correspondence, 1933-1962 14 1 A-Z, unidentified, 1933-1951 Mooney, Sylvester, 1945-1962 2 1945 3 1946-1949 4 1950-1959 5 1960-1962 Works, 1931-1952, n.d. 6 Diaries, 1931-1932, 1941 7 The Prison, short story, n.d. 8 Proposals for television programs, 1952, n.d. 9 Passports, 1928, 1946, 1956
Correspondence, 1962-1984 15 1 A-Z, unidentified, 1962-1984 2 Letters of condolence, 1975-1976 Works, 1964-1976, n.d. Diaries 3 1964-1965 4 1973 5 1975-1976 6 Talk to the Rotary Club, n.d. Personal, 1952, 1962, n.d. 7 Financial papers, 1962, n.d. 8 Legal papers, 1952
9 Correspondence, 1946-1957 10 Photographs, n.d.
Reference queries to: reference@hrc.utexas.edu
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