St. John Hankin was a serious dramatist who wrote comedies that showed a sharp sense of the contemporary social scene and of the changing values of the time. In his day, he was thought to have been influenced by George Bernard Shaw and, if the differences between the two writers are far greater than the similarities, the association of the two names in this way is not entirely without justification. Allardyce Nicoll wrote in English Drama 1900-1930 (1973) that Hankin was "the writer who may be thought closest to Granville Barker himself, even although in spirit and technique a great gulf lies between the two." A writer who could be compared with Shaw and Harley Granville Barker was clearly above the average, however modest may be the estimate of him formed by succeeding generations.

Edward Charles St. John Hankin was born in Southampton. His father, Charles Wright Hankin, was...