Ernest Elmore (1901 - 1957) was born in Maidstone, Kent in 1901. He attended Mill Hill School until 1919, where he was a boarder. He then attended a secretarial college in Cheltenham.
He was the assistant to the Games Master at St Christopher School in the early 1920's when it occupied the buildings on Broadway which now form part of St Francis College. His younger brother, Alex, was a pupil at St Christopher School from September 1919 to October 1923. Ernest Elmore was also the leader of the school's dramatic activities. His play, "Pharaoh and the Man " was staged at the School in 1923.
The Theosophical Education Trust appointed a sub-committee on 24th May 1924 to carry out the detailed work on a theatre which was to be built at the school and it's members were Chairman and Managing Director of the Board, Miss King,Mr Elmore, Mr I Hawliczek, Mr Taylor, Mrs Barry Parker, Mr Pearsall and Mr Haysman.
At a meeting on 4th July 1924 the recommendations from the sub-committee about the first season were accepted and "It was further decided to allow Ernest Elmore 30/- per week towards his board and lodging for the remainder of this term, in order that he might obtain experience in Stage Management at the Everyman Theatre, and that his salary of £3 per week commence in September when it is hoped he will obtain training with the Birmingham Repertory Co and at the Old Vic."
The theatre was completed in December 1924 and formally opened by Dame Ellen Terry. The first performance in it was in January 1925. That first season, largely run by Edith Craig, who had advised on the design of the stage facilities, gave Laurence Olivier his first professional engagement in a minor part in Macbeth. He was also assistant stage manager and possibly understudied some parts.
Ernest Elmore had an advisory or managerial role at St Christopher Theatre.
After leaving Letchworth, Ernest Elmore went on the stage. For two years he was Stage Director and Producer to Miss Lena Ashwell Company. He also acted for a period at the Everyman Theatre in Hampstead, where he took part in a number of Bernard Shaw's plays.
By 1931 he was living in the village of Loose, Kent before returning to Maidstone where he produced plays for the local dramatic society, it was here he met his future wife Betty. They married in 1933 and moved to Crooked Cottage Beckley, Sussex, where he became a full-time author.
He joined the Home Guard in the Second World War and made sure his daughter Jennifer was safe by sending his daughter Jennifer to live with her grandmother in Devon. He wrote a children's book "Snuffly Snorty Dog" which he posted chapter by chapter to his daughter and it was eventually published in 1946, under his own name.
He died in 1957.
John Bude was the pen name adopted by Ernest Carpenter Elmore when he turned to writing crime fiction. His early books featured attractive locations which could be recognised by the reader. After the second world war he published "Death makes a Prophet" which features the fictional town of Welworth Garden City as the location for the first half of the novel and the second half is located in Surrey.
Welworth Garden City is clearly based on Letchworth Garden City as one of the road names is Broadway, a dance is held at the Rollup Corset Factory. The plot revolves around the Cult of Cooism and Welworth Garden City proves to be a hot bed of Cooism, which is "an obliging religion because one could find in it pretty well anything one looked for”.
One of the main characters is Mrs. Hagge-Smith and her Surrey estate owes much to Miss Lawrence and The Cloisters even if it consisted of tents and not buildings. One of the suspects lived in Bridge Street, Hitchin.
The book is on sale in David's Bookshop.
He was the assistant to the Games Master at St Christopher School in the early 1920's when it occupied the buildings on Broadway which now form part of St Francis College. His younger brother, Alex, was a pupil at St Christopher School from September 1919 to October 1923. Ernest Elmore was also the leader of the school's dramatic activities. His play, "Pharaoh and the Man " was staged at the School in 1923.
The Theosophical Education Trust appointed a sub-committee on 24th May 1924 to carry out the detailed work on a theatre which was to be built at the school and it's members were Chairman and Managing Director of the Board, Miss King,Mr Elmore, Mr I Hawliczek, Mr Taylor, Mrs Barry Parker, Mr Pearsall and Mr Haysman.
At a meeting on 4th July 1924 the recommendations from the sub-committee about the first season were accepted and "It was further decided to allow Ernest Elmore 30/- per week towards his board and lodging for the remainder of this term, in order that he might obtain experience in Stage Management at the Everyman Theatre, and that his salary of £3 per week commence in September when it is hoped he will obtain training with the Birmingham Repertory Co and at the Old Vic."
The theatre was completed in December 1924 and formally opened by Dame Ellen Terry. The first performance in it was in January 1925. That first season, largely run by Edith Craig, who had advised on the design of the stage facilities, gave Laurence Olivier his first professional engagement in a minor part in Macbeth. He was also assistant stage manager and possibly understudied some parts.
Ernest Elmore had an advisory or managerial role at St Christopher Theatre.
After leaving Letchworth, Ernest Elmore went on the stage. For two years he was Stage Director and Producer to Miss Lena Ashwell Company. He also acted for a period at the Everyman Theatre in Hampstead, where he took part in a number of Bernard Shaw's plays.
By 1931 he was living in the village of Loose, Kent before returning to Maidstone where he produced plays for the local dramatic society, it was here he met his future wife Betty. They married in 1933 and moved to Crooked Cottage Beckley, Sussex, where he became a full-time author.
He joined the Home Guard in the Second World War and made sure his daughter Jennifer was safe by sending his daughter Jennifer to live with her grandmother in Devon. He wrote a children's book "Snuffly Snorty Dog" which he posted chapter by chapter to his daughter and it was eventually published in 1946, under his own name.
He died in 1957.
John Bude was the pen name adopted by Ernest Carpenter Elmore when he turned to writing crime fiction. His early books featured attractive locations which could be recognised by the reader. After the second world war he published "Death makes a Prophet" which features the fictional town of Welworth Garden City as the location for the first half of the novel and the second half is located in Surrey.
Welworth Garden City is clearly based on Letchworth Garden City as one of the road names is Broadway, a dance is held at the Rollup Corset Factory. The plot revolves around the Cult of Cooism and Welworth Garden City proves to be a hot bed of Cooism, which is "an obliging religion because one could find in it pretty well anything one looked for”.
One of the main characters is Mrs. Hagge-Smith and her Surrey estate owes much to Miss Lawrence and The Cloisters even if it consisted of tents and not buildings. One of the suspects lived in Bridge Street, Hitchin.
The book is on sale in David's Bookshop.