P.G. Wodehouse

Writer, Playwright and Novelist

A memorial tablet for writer, humourist and playwright Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse (known in his family as Plum) was unveiled in the south quire aisle of Westminster Abbey on 20th September 2019. It is on the wall next to Richard Dimbleby's memorial and not far from Noel Coward's stone. HRH the Duke of Kent was at the dedication with members of the P.G. Wodehouse Society. The limestone plaque was designed by Stephen Raw and the inscription cut by Annet Stirling. This reads:

P G Wodehouse 1881-1975

and around the border:

"Lyricist, Humourist, Novelist, Playwright"

He was born on 15th October 1881 in Guildford, Surrey, a son of Henry Ernest Wodehouse and his wife Eleanor (Deane). After attending Dulwich College his first job was in a bank but he soon left to become a writer. In 1902 his first article for Punch appeared and his first novel for adults was published in 1906. When he was in America he also worked as a lyricist, writing songs with Jerome Kern and others. In 1914 he married widow Ethel Rowley but they had no children. He was rejected for service in the Great War due to his poor eyesight. Among the memorable characters he created were Bertie Wooster and his intelligent manservant Jeeves, Psmith and Lord Emsworth and his pig in the Blandings series. At the outbreak of the Second World War he was living in France and was interned as an enemy alien by the Nazis. On his release he was taken to Berlin and tricked into making broadcasts to the Allies on German radio. This led to his being thought of by some as a collaborator but MI5 investigations found no evidence of this. In 1955 he became a US citizen but retained his British nationality although he never returned home. In 1975 he was knighted but died not long afterwards on 14th February 1975 in hospital on Long Island, New York. He is buried there in the Remsenburgh Presbyterian church.