From 1904 until 1914 PG Wodehouse lived in …
”an old port at the head of a channel of Chichester Harbour. The town proper is on a blunt peninsula between two small creeks, with an intricate pattern of streets and alleyways leading to different parts of the waterside. It was especially prosperous in the 18th century, declined in the 19th century, and still had an atmosphere of staid decay up to a few years ago. Now it is a yachting centre and looks rather chic.” (The Buildings of England, Hampshire, Nikolaus Pevsner/David Lloyd, 1963)
I don’t know about chic (“smart and fashionable”, Chambers) but as desirable a place to live today as when Plum arrived, aged twenty-three, in 1904. In 1902 his first novel, The Pothunters, had been published. It sold 396 copies but he was writing occasional pieces for the By the Way column in The Globe and Traveller, initially at 10/6 a pop, to keep the wolf from the door. Through a friend he was offered inexpensive accommodation in Emsworth and, as The Globe was an evening paper, could send his copy up to London on the midday train.
His career blossomed in the decade he spent in Emsworth so it’s worth delving into why he left. He was unable to join up because of poor eyesight so that wasn’t the reason. He was commissioned to write an in-depth interview for an American magazine, arriving in New York in August 2014. He stayed first because he met Ethel, whom he married in September, and then because of the war. He achieved success at Emsworth – he hit the jackpot in New York as a lyricist for musical comedies and as a novelist.
He is not forgotten in Emsworth. The small museum has an excellent display of Wodehousiana including his correspondence with Lillian Barnett, his housekeeper at Threepwood, the large Edwardian house in Emsworth he rented. They corresponded until her death in 1974.
In the most unlikely event you are not interested in PG Wodehouse the museum is a treasure trove of unexpected displays illustrating Emswoth’s largely maritime history. If you are thorough it will take at least half a day – somewhat surprising for such a small museum but a credit to the volunteers who created it.
In the nineteenth century Emsworth had a flourishing oyster trade. This came to an abrupt halt in 1902, just before Wodehouse’s arrival in the town. After a banquet held in Winchester in November several of those present were struck down with typhoid and among those who died was the Dean. He had been a teetotaller. The Bishop, not a teetotaller, but rather one known to be “familiar with the pleasures of the table” suffered no ill effects whatsoever. Sadly the incident polished off Emsworth’s oyster trade at a stroke.