Arnold Bennett Blue Plaque

About This Blue Plaque

Arnold Bennett was a prolific English novelist and author, best known for his works detailing life in the Staffordshire Potteries. He was born Enoch Arnold Bennett in 1867 in Hanley, Staffordshire. Bennett’s father was a solicitor, and he expected Arnold to follow in his footsteps. However, Bennett had a passion for literature from a young age.

After working as a solicitor’s clerk and in his father’s practice, Bennett moved to London in 1889 to work as a journalist and writer. It was here at 75 Cadogan Square in the Borough of Westminster that Bennett lived for a time. Westminster has long attracted writers and artists, with its vibrant cultural scene.

Bennett found great success with his “Clayhanger” trilogy of novels published between 1910-1918, which poignantly depicted the realities of life in the Potteries. He was an astonishingly productive writer, penning over 30 novels, as well as numerous plays, short stories, essays, and a well-regarded journal. Some of his other notable works include “The Old Wives’ Tale”, “Anna of the Five Towns”, and “Riceyman Steps”, for which he won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.

Besides his literary accomplishments, Bennett was a keen observer of life, society, and culture. He engaged with various intellectual circles in London and France. Though he faced some criticism for his commercialism and perceived lack of modernist experimentation, Bennett was widely read in his time. He passed away in 1931 of typhoid, having left an indelible mark on English literature with his acutely drawn regional novels and vivid insight into English provincial life at the turn of the 20th century.