Dermot Freyer

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, was serving in the Indian Medical Service. He was largely brought up in Dublin, and he was educated at 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. He spent some time as a reader for Charles Elkin Mathews, and in this role, he rejected James Joyce's Dubliners, describing two of its stories as "almost obscene".

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. 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. 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.

In 1932, Freyer wrote the semi-autobiographical novel, Not All Joy.

Freyer died early in 1970 and was buried at Grantchester Church, near Cambridge.