Herbert Westbrook

Herbert Wotton Westbrook, also referred to as Herbert Wetton Westbrook (?? – 22 March 1959), was an author best known for having been an early collaborator of P.G. Wodehouse, including becoming his assistant in writing the “By the Way” column for The Globe, before Wodehouse went to live in the United States. Westbrook was also, at least in part, the model for Wodehouse’s character Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge. a prep school in Emsworth, near Portsmouth, would invite Wodehouse to come down and stay with him. The school was run by Baldwin King-Hall, to whom Wodehouse would write the dedication in Indiscretions of Archie, published in 1921.

After staying for some six months on the school grounds, Wodehouse rented a small house nearby called Tresco, before moving into Threepwood Cottage, and Westbrook would soon move in with him, as well as later sharing a flat in London. It was at Threepwood that Wodehouse would first write about Psmith, and where he wrote A Gentleman of Leisure (1910) which, adapted for the stage for two successive productions within a short space of time, would star Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and John Barrymore, respectively. With the proceeds from his sales in the United States, Wodehouse would later buy Threepwood Cottage.

In 1911, Westbrook collaborated with Wodehouse in adapting the latter's short story "Ahead of Schedule" into another musical sketch, After the Show. He also published a few poems and short stories in The Windsor Magazine.

Westbrook died on 22 March 1959.

Publications

Short stories "The Dog-Stroker", The Windsor Magazine (January 1904) "The Popularity of Algernon Fitz Clarence", The Windsor Magazine (May 1904) "To-morrow", The Windsor Magazine (June 1904) "A Cold in the Head", The Windsor Magazine (April 1905) "Impromptu", The Windsor Magazine (February 1906) "The Brick", The Windsor Magazine (January 1912) "And Lived Happily", The Windsor Magazine (March 1912) "The Shove", The Windsor Magazine (June 1912) "The Circuit", The Bellman (April 5, 1913)

Books The Cause of Catesby, or, Gunpowder, Treason and Plot – Herbert Westbrook (1905) Not George Washington – P. G. Wodehouse and Herbert Westbrook (Cassell’s, 1907) The Globe By the Way Book – P. G. Wodehouse and Herbert Westbrook (1908) Back Numbers – Herbert Wetton Westbrook (1918) The Booby Prize, a gesture: and another story – Herbert Wetton Westbrook (1924)

Sketches The Bandit's Daughter – P. G. Wodehouse, Herbert Westbrook (words) and Ella King-Hall (music) (1907) After the Show – P. G. Wodehouse and Herbert Westbrook (1911)

Play Brother Alfred – P. G. Wodehouse and Herbert Westbrook (1913)