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Sir Alan Patrick Herbert CH (24 September 1890 – 11 November 1971), also known as A. P. Herbert or simply A. P. H., was an English humorist, novelist, playwright and law reform activist who served as an independent Member of Parliament (MP) for Oxford University from the 1935 general election to the 1950 general election, when university constituencies were abolished. Herbert was born in Ashtead, Surrey, the son of a civil servant and maternal grandson of Sir Charles Jasper Selwyn. He attended The Grange, Folkestone, before attending Winchester College. He received an exhibition to New College, Oxford, where he originally studied the classics before changing degree and receiving a first in jurisprudence. ==Early life and education== Herbert was born in Ashtead, Surrey on 24 September 1890. His father, Patrick Herbert, was a civil servant in the India Office, and his mother, and Beatrice Herbert (née Selwyn), was the daughter of Sir Charles Jasper Selwyn, a Lord Justice of Appeal.〔Pound, pp. 16-17〕 He had two younger brothers; both were killed in battle—one in 1914 and the other in 1941. His mother died of tuberculosis when he was eight years old, shortly before he left to attend The Grange in Folkestone, a preparatory school.〔Pound, pp. 21-22〕 Herbert then attended Winchester College, where he won the King's Medal for English Verse and the King's Medal for English Speech, which was awarded by Herbert Asquith, the Prime Minister at the time. He took an active part in the College's debating society and Shakespeare society. As a student at Winchester, Herbert sent verses to the offices of ''Punch'', and received notes of encouragements and suggestions from the editor, Owen Seaman. Herbert was also Captain of Houses, one of the College's three football divisions.〔Pound, pp. 22-26〕 When at Winchester, Herbert received an exhibition to New College, Oxford. He made his first public speech at the Kensington branch of the Tariff Reform League, speaking extempore on home rule. His first contribution to ''Punch'' was printed on 24 August 1910, being a set of verses with the title ''Stones of Venus''. Herbert went down to Oxford in October, and made his first speech at the Oxford Union in November. Apart from ''Punch'', his work began appearing in ''The Observer'', the ''Pall Mall Gazette'' and ''Vanity Fair''.〔Pound, pp. 25-33〕 Herbert received a "not very good Second" in Honour Moderations, and, apparently disenchanted with the classics, changed his degree to law. He went into lodgings with Walter Monckton and others and was also good friends with notables Duff Cooper, Harold Macmillan and Philip Guedalla. Herbert finished at Oxford in 1914, with "a very good First" in jurisprudence. He then decided to join his friend Jack Parr as a volunteer at Oxford House in Bethnal Green for a year. He spent the time "doing what I could", washing dishes, sweeping floors, running errands and collecting money.〔Pound, pp.33-36〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「A. P. Herbert」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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