Theodore Edward Hook (22 September 1788 – 24 August 1841) was an English writer, intellectual, prankster and civil servant. One of the first writers of the English fashionable novel, he is best known for his practical jokes, particularly the Berners Street hoax in 1810. The world's first postcard was received by Hook in 1840; he likely posted it to himself.
Another notable prank of Hook's was played on the actor Robert Coates a few years later. While Coates was performing at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, Hooks forged and hand-delivered an invitation from The Prince Regent to a party at Carlton House. Coates was initially invited in, but the invitation was found to be fake and he was turned away. Having sent off his carriage, he was obliged to wait at the Hackney carriage stand. The Prince, unwittingly involved in Hook's prank, regretted that Coates had been ejected, observing him to be an "inoffensive gentleman", and noting that "his presence might have amused many of the guests, and could have done harm to no one." Coates accepted an invitation to visit the next day. Hook seemed to regret the prank; he "never told the story without some signs of compunction."
Career
He took up residence at St Mary Hall, Oxford University, leaving after two terms to resume his former life. His gift of improvising songs charmed the Prince Regent, who appointed him accountant-general and treasurer of Mauritius with a salary of £2,000 a year (£142,325; US$194,771 in 2021 terms). He started his term in October 1813. In 1817, it was discovered that a sum of about £12,000 (£1,054,500; US$1.44 million in 2021 terms) had been extracted by a deputy official; Hook was put on trial and ultimately found guilty of negligence and held responsible for the missing amount.
In 1820, to repay the debt, he launched the newspaper John Bull, which championed Toryism. Though it had strong circulation, he failed to repay what he owed and was confined to a sponging-house from 1823 to 1825. While imprisoned, he wrote the nine volumes of stories afterwards collected under the title of Sayings and Doings (1824–1828). In the early 1820s, he helped the singer Michael Kelly compile his Reminiscences, which include details of working with Mozart. In the remaining 23 years of his life, he wrote novels, essays, and plays. His novels have frequent passages of racy narrative and vivid portraiture. They include Maxwell (1830), a portrait of his friend the Reverend E. Cannon; Love and Pride (1833); the autobiographical Gilbert Gurney (1835) and Gurney Married (1838); Jack Brag (1837) and Peregrine Bunce (1842). His last novel was Births, Marriages and Deaths (1839).
The world's oldest postcard was sent to Hook in 1840, In 2002, the postcard sold for a record £31,750.
Novels
- Maxwell (1830)
- Love and Pride (1833)
- The Parson's Daughter (1833)
- Gilbert Gurney (1836)
- Jack Brag (1837)
- Gurney Married: A Sequel to Gilbert Gurney (1838)
- All in the Wrong; or, Births, Deaths, and Marriages (1839)
- Precepts and Practice (1840)
- Fathers and Sons (1842)
- Peregrine Bunce; or, Settled at Last (1842)
Notes
References
- Richard Harris Barham, Life and Remains of Hook (3rd ed, 1877).
- John Gibson Lockhart, Review of Peregrine Bunce, Quarterly Review (May 1843), 53-108. Includes biographical sketch of Hook.
- Bill Newton Dunn, The Man Who Was John Bull (1996 but still in print), Allendale Publishing, 29 Old Palace Lane, Richmond TW9 1PQ, GB
- Graeme Harper, 'Hook, Theodore Edward (1788–1841)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edition, January 2008 Retrieved 17 September 2012
Attribution