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John Presland
1885–1975
A versatile British writer who published poetry, drama, fiction, and biography under the pen name John Presland, while also building a busy public life as a lecturer, translator, and committee member. Born in Melbourne and educated at Girton College, she moved easily between literary work and public service.
3 Audiobooks
Lynton and Lynmouth: A Pageant of Cliff & Moorland
by John Presland
Poems of London, and Other Verses
by John Presland
The Deluge, and Other Poems
by John Presland
About the author
Born Gladys Williams on 6 September 1885 in Melbourne, Australia, the writer behind the name John Presland later returned with her family to London and was educated at Maida Vale High School, a school in Folkestone, and Queen’s College, Harley Street. She went on to study Modern and Medieval Languages at Girton College, Cambridge, from 1903 to 1906.
Under the pen name John Presland, she wrote across several forms, including poetry, drama, fiction, and biography. Archive records also note that she may have used the name Myfanwy Sloane, and that she earned part of her living through translation work, especially from German into English.
Her career reached well beyond writing alone. She served as a lecturer and held several public and educational posts in the 1920s and early 1930s, later sat on the Home Office Aliens’ Advisory Committee in 1940, and worked with charitable organizations including Save the Children Fund, whose Foreign Relief Section she chaired from 1943. She died on 29 September 1975.