A Jolly Life

Charles Theophilus Hahn, born into the English upper middle classes in 1870, was a cleric who worked in industrial towns in Yorkshire, in Southern Africa as a missionary and as an army chaplain in World War One. He loved adventure, travel and nature, and promised himself that he would have a jolly time. He left journals, sketches and watercolours which are the basis for his story, written by John Odling-Smee. The idioms and expressions in the journals recall the times in which he was writing. Many of the watercolours were inspired by the wildflowers and scenery of Africa. Taken together, his writings and paintings provide a fascinating picture of an interesting life in England and Southern Africa in turbulent times.