Sir Henry John Newbolt

Sir Henry John Newbolt 1862-1938, English poet and historian. He is best remembered for his vigorous and imperialistic poems of the sea, collections of which include Admirals All (1897), The Sailing of the Long Ships (1902), and Drake's Drum and Other Songs of the Sea (1914). The centennial history The Year of Trafalgar (1905) established him as a naval historian. He was knighted in 1915.

Bibliography: See his autobiography, My World as in My Time (1932).

NEWBOLT REPORT. A report on the teaching of English in England and Wales, presented to the Board of Education in 1921 by a committee chaired by Sir Henry Newbolt. Entitled The Teaching of English in England, the report argued that English was unduly neglected as a subject in many schools, and insisted that it should be built into the total educational experience. Cautiously rather than enthusiastically progressive, it covered the whole range of education, from elementary schools to universities, and argued that the understanding of literature should have a central role and that emphasis should be placed on teaching pupils how to form well-constructed arguments. See BULLOCK REPORT, KINGMAN REPORT.

Newbolt, Sir Henry John (1862–1938), is remembered principally for his rousing patriotic nautical ballads, which include ‘Drake's Drum’, published in Admirals All and Other Verses (1897).