The cover of The Boys Of Blair House. Sunday Circle, 1904.
James Harwood Panting (1854[1] - 1924[2]) was a British writer who specialised in school stories for boys. He was the editor of Young Folks[3] and a member of the editorial staff of the South London Press.
Panting married Bertha Emily Alais in 1883[5] and they had sons Ray and Arnold and daughters Ruth and Phyllis. A son Cyril is recorded in the 1891 census but not in 1911. At the time of the 1891 census the family were living at 67 Ballater Road, Brixton, London.[6] George B. Hicklenton, a printer's reader, was lodging with them.
By the time of the 1911 census the family were at 47 Beechdale, Brixton Hill, London. All the children were born in Brixton.[4] Both Arnold and Phyllis became journalists, Phyllis as the noted women's magazine editor Phyllis Digby Morton. The family employed one servant. In 1921, The Literary Year-Book gave an address for Panting of The Shack, Melrose Avenue, Norbury, London SW19.[7]
Writing
After earlier literary works and two adult novels, Panting specialised in boys school stories. As Claud Heathcote[8] he contributed stories to The Boys' Friend in 1895[9] and The Union Jack in 1898.[10]
Death
Panting died in the Croydon district of Surrey in 1924.[2]
Selected publications
The Poetical Works of Leigh Hunt and Thomas Hood. Scott, 1889. (Editor)
Through the Crucible (a novel). S.W. Partridge, London, 1898.
The Vicar's Atonement. Horace Marshall, London, 1900.
