1895 - 1909
Robert Graves his full name was Robert von Ranke Graves was born in Wimbledon, London, on July 24th 1895. His father, Alfred Perceval...
...Graves, Anglo-Irish, was the son of the Bishop of Limerick. He was an Inspector of Schools but also poet, elected a Gorsedd Bard of Wales. Graves s mother, Amalie (Amy) von Ranke, was the daughter of a German doctor, and grand-niece of the German historian Leopold von Ranke. When Alfred married Amy he was a widower with five children; together they had five more, of which Robert was the third. They lived in a large house in Wimbledon (blue plaque: 1, Lauriston Rd, SW19) but also had a house in Harlech, in North Wales, where they spent their holidays. Robert described Wimbledon as neither town nor country , but he loved Harlech, where he roamed the hills with his sisters. It is the landscape of Harlech, its hills and coastline, on which Robert draws persistently for his poetic imagery.