George Eliot's England

In October 2015 I was invited to write a two-part blog post about the prospective George Eliot Visitor’s Centre on ‘Placing the Author’, a wonderful site run by Jo Taylor and Claire Wood that features various projects and posts about Literary Tourism in the Long Nineteenth Century.

Unfortunately, progress with both the demolition and reconstruction plans of the dovecote at Griff House have been very slow due to funding difficulties. While the GEF’s members raised just over £4000 in 2016 to put towards the project, John and Vivienne as Chair and Vice-Chair have also been working hard in partnership with the Heritage Lottery Fund to refine their application for further funding.

Although building plans for the Visitor’s Centre have not yet been able to go ahead, there is hope that the Heritage Lottery Fund’s attention to the GEF’s initial application is a good sign. I had to make the very difficult decision to leave the UK in early 2017, but before going I met with John and Vivienne both at Griff House and in Oxford. We filmed the condition of the dovecote building for posterity and John and Vivienne were kind enough to answer questions about their dedication to George Eliot, the GEF, and their vision for a George Eliot Visitor’s Centre at Griff House.

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In the 1960s, the George Eliot Fellowship had dwindled down to less than 30 members with only 5 members living locally. Towards the end of this decade, Bill and Kathleen Adams became involved and they were soon integral members of the GEF. Kathleen served as Secretary for 40 years until 2008, while Bill was the Chairman until 2006. During the period of their involvement the GEF flourished. Under their leadership local interest grew and in 1980 a plaque was unveiled at Westminster Abbey’s Poets’ Corner to commemorate George Eliot. This was a major milestone not only because it took place at the centenary of Eliot’s death, but also because in 1880 Eliot had been denied burial in the Abbey due to her 24-year-long (illicit) partnership with the married G.H. Lewes. Bill and Kathleen also oversaw the erection in 1986 of a statue of Eliot in Newdegate Square, Nuneaton — another tribute long overdue. We interviewed Bill about how he and his wife initially became involved in the Fellowship and what he thinks contributed most to its revitalization in the 1970s and 1980s.

This interview took place in October 2015 while Bill and Kathleen were in their early 90s. Even then, they kept abreast of the Fellowship’s progress and were particularly hopeful about the potential building of a George Eliot Visitor’s Centre at the site of Griff House. Bill and Kathleen passed away within a few weeks of one another in the summer of 2016.