Percival Hartley. 1881-1957

Pergival Hartley was born on 28 May 1881 at Calverley, near Leeds, as second son and third of the four children of William Thompson Hartley and his wife, whose maiden name had been Grimshaw. The father, W. J. Hartley, was in business as a manufacturer of woollen cloth. From notes which his son Percival has left, it may be gathered that he was a failure in this business of his own, but, by way of contrast, very successful in his activities on behalf of his fellow townsmen, as a social worker, a magistrate and a member of the local Council, of which he became the Chairman. Percival Hartley’s mother also came of people connected with the local industry, an ancestor of hers having built and owned one of the first mills to make woollen cloth; and Hartley evidently thought of her as having had a stronger and more enterprising influence than that of his father, on the prospects of their family. ‘She managed our schooling’, he writes, ‘and made the decisions which mattered, about schools, colleges etc. She encouraged us, and me particularly, to “Strike out”, try new ventures, etc. She encouraged change and trying things, while my father always “played for safety” .’ Later he appears to have recognized more clearly that his father also had plans and ambitions for the family, but that these were largely determined by the admiration and respect which he had formed for J. R. Raper, also a manufacturer of woollen cloth, but a more successful one.