Michael Bloch & Susan Fox: Bloomsbury Stud. The Life of Stephen 'Tommy' Tomlin

[Nicholas]

This biography of the sculptor Tomlin was privately published in 2020. It contains some slight but interesting information for readers of this forum. Tomlin was a contemporary of Rupert Buxton's at Harrow where they had a friendly rivalry as the leading literary figures. Tomlin went on to New College, Oxford about the same time Buxton went to Christ Church, but it is not clear how close they were at University. As Tomlin was brought up in Bayswater, the authors wonder whether he may have encountered the Llewelyn Davies family. Bea Howe, sister of actor George Howe, claimed that Tomlin knew Michael well and suffered a mental breakdown when he heard of his death, and in consequence had to leave Oxford. Bea supplied this information to Oliver Garnett, Tomlin's first biographer, where he repeats it. But as Tomlin had left Oxford about 18 months before the drowning, Bloch & Fox consider this a dubious claim. Given the tiny world of Eton, Harrow and Oxford these encounters are unavoidable and one wonders how much weight to give them.