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{{short description|Irish author and activist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
'''Dermot Johnston Freyer''' (29 July 1883 – 11 January 1970) was an Irish author, who also spent time as a political activist in Britain.

Freyer was born in [[Moradabad]] in [[India]], where his father, [[Peter Freyer|Peter]], was serving in the [[Indian Medical Service]]. He was largely brought up in [[Dublin]], and he was educated at [[Wellington College, Berkshire|Wellington College]], then attended [[Trinity College, Cambridge]], followed by the [[University of Edinburgh]], where he studied medicine. Before graduating from Edinburgh, he met [[Oliver St John Gogarty]], who convinced him to leave the university and focus on writing.<ref name="obituary">{{cite news |title=Obituary: Major D. J. Freyer |work=Irish Times |date=12 January 1970}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Lyons |first1=John Benignus |title=Thrust syphilis down to hell and other rejoyceana |date=1988 |publisher=Glendale |isbn=0907606377 |page=184}}</ref> He spent some time as a reader for [[Charles Elkin Mathews]], and in this role rejected [[James Joyce]]'s ''[[Dubliners]]'', describing two of its stories as "almost obscene".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Maddox |first1=Brenda |title=The married man: a life of D.H. Lawrence |date=1994 |publisher=Sinclair-Stevenson |isbn=1856192431 |page=538}}</ref>

In Edinburgh, Freyer met New Zealand-born Lorna Doone, although she contracted [[tuberculosis]] and was advised to return to New Zealand. Freyer moved to Cambridge, and was soon joined by Doone, the two marrying in 1909.<ref name="buried">{{cite web |last1=King |first1=Helen |title=Interesting people buried in Grantchester Churchyard |url=https://estatedocbox.com/Architects/78946370-Interesting-people-buried-in-grantchester-churchyard.html |website=The Friends of Grantchester Church |accessdate=16 April 2019}}</ref> During 1912, Freyer served as joint editor of ''[[Granta]]'', despite not being a student at the time. He fell out with his co-editor, Denis Garstin, but was given a say in appointing the next editor, [[Edward Shanks]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The Granta and its contributors, 1889-1914 |date=1924 |publisher=University of Cambridge |location=Cambridge}}</ref> Despite Lorna spending much time away due to poor health, the couple had three children: Patrick, who became an architect, Grattan, who founded a pottery, and Michael, who became a hotel manager.<ref name="obituary" />

Freyer joined the [[London Irish Rifles]] in 1905, and served with them throughout [[World War I]], apparently based in London and given charge of fitting soldiers' uniforms. Despite this, he was promoted to become a major. In 1919, Lorna died in the [[Spanish flu epidemic]].<ref name="buried" />

Freyer also joined the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]], for which he was elected to [[Cambridge City Council]]. He stood for Parliament on numerous occasions, without success: in [[Huntingdonshire (UK Parliament constituency)|Huntingdonshire]] at the [[1922 United Kingdom general election]], the [[Isle of Ely (UK Parliament constituency)|Isle of Ely]] in [[1924 United Kingdom general election|1924]] and [[1929 United Kingdom general election|1929]], and [[Hitchin (UK Parliament constituency)|Hitchin]] at the [[1931 United Kingdom general election]].<ref name="obituary" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Craig |first1=F. W. S. |title=British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-49 |date=2015 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1349814671 |pages=374–378}}</ref>

In 1932, Freyer wrote the semi-autobiographical novel, ''Not All Joy''.<ref name="buried" /> In 1934, he moved to [[Achill Island]] off the west coast of Ireland, purchasing the house which had once belonged to [[Charles Boycott]]. He converted it into a hotel, and on Sundays, held song and dance events, open to all.<ref name="obituary" /> He ran it on a haphazard basis, not charging guests who were short of money, but charging extra to anyone who did not take a daily bath. By 1964, he was running out of money, and sold the hotel, returning to Cambridge.<ref name="obituary" /><ref name="buried" />

Freyer had three sons. Freyer's sister Kathleen married Colonel [[John Duncan Grant]] VC, a British Indian Army officer.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sir Peter Freyer Papers, IE JHL/P057 |url=http://www.iar.ie/Archive.shtml?IE%20JHL/P057 |website=Irish Archives Resource |publisher=[[Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht]]}}</ref>

Freyer died early in 1970, and was buried at [[Grantchester]] Church, near Cambridge.<ref name="buried" />

==References==
<references />

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Freyer, Dermot}}
[[Category:1883 births]]
[[Category:1970 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Irish hoteliers]]
[[Category:Irish people of World War I]]
[[Category:Councillors in Cambridgeshire]]
[[Category:Labour Party (UK) councillors]]
[[Category:Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates]]
[[Category:People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire]]
[[Category:20th-century Irish writers]]
[[Category:Irish activists]]
[[Category:London Irish Rifles officers]]
[[Category:Military personnel of British India]]
[[Category:Burials in Cambridgeshire]]
[[Category:Irish people in colonial India]]

Dermot Freyer - Revision history

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