Leslie Howard Begins His Love of Horses

[Leslie Howard]

Leslie Howard had a very active imagination and used it to begin writing plays and stories at a young age. He wrote his first play, in Latin, by the time he was 13 years old. Young Leslie's drama was presented at the Christmas pageant at his school. His mother encouraged her son, but his

Leslie Howard, The Early Years - Part Four

It seems that the army didn't really know what to do with a calvary regiment in a war being fought in the trenches, so Leslie's unit continued training for an additional ten months in an idyllic little town in the English countryside. It was here that he met Ruth Evelyn Martin, aged 21.

Leslie was actually engaged at the time to a young woman approved of by his father, Frank. When Leslie would write to "Buzz," as she was called, Ruth made sure to include little notes describing the care she was taking of Leslie. It seems Buzz relayed her concerns about Leslie's "caregiver" to his father and when Leslie failed to show up at home for a scheduled visit with the family, and Buzz, in March, 1916, Frank made a trip to Colchester to find out what was going on. When Frank voiced his disapproval to Leslie and told him to end his relationship with Ruth, Leslie announced that it was too late, Leslie and Ruth had been married that morning at St. Mary at the Walls Church. It seems that Ruth had not consulted her parents either. But there was nothing any of them could do. Leslie and Ruth had chosen their path and it was one they would travel together for the next 27 years, until his death.

[Leslie Howard Steiner,
Second Lieutenant, c. 1915]

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Leslie Howard, The Early Years - Part Two

The Steiners were no longer looked upon with as much disfavor by Lilian's family as they had been initially and they were helped to buy the house next door on Jasper Road, Upper Norwood. However, the Blumbergs expected the family to fit in with their society so Ferdinand changed his name to Frank Stainer and all Germanic influences had to be eradicated. (Leslie Howard's military records show him as Leslie Steiner. Apparently, the name change was only cosmetic.) Leslie was no longer allowed to speak German and any lapse would result in the cancellation of treats. His uncle even went so far as to make him eat mustard on toast if he forgot and let a German word escape. Leslie remembered later that he became shy and withdrawn at that time.

The Stainer's house was large and comfortable and looked out over London and was just around the corner from the Crystal Palace, which must have provided hours of amusement for Leslie and his siblings. Leslie started school at Belvedere House in 1904 and seemed to have a talent for writing. It was here that one of his plays was performed for visiting parents during Christmas.

His next school, Alleyn's, was not so comfortable, though, and Leslie didn't seem to fit in. One of his reports called him "a shuffler, little power, little energy, no morals." There is some speculation that this view of Howard may have stemmed from his German name and accent. Germans were not in favor at the time. Of course, we will never know.

[Leslie Howard Steiner, c. 1915]

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Leslie Howard, The Early Years - Part One

Howard was born Leslie Howard Steiner April 3, 1893, in Forest Hill, London, to Ferdinand and Lilian Steiner (née Blumberg). Lilian's first ancestor in England, Leslie's great grandfather, Ludwig Alexander Blumberg, emigrated to England from Courland in Russia in 1834. The family's language and culture was Germanic and their religion, Jewish. However, once Ludwig arrived in London, he jettisoned his religion and changed his name to Louis so as to fit in with "respectable" society. He was very successful at importing luxury goods, so successful in fact that he was the first resident of a newly built mansion at 20 Kensington Palace Gardens, now owned by the Sultan of Brunei.

One of his six children was Charles Blumberg who married Mary Elizabeth Roworth in 1868. Her father was in the printing business and his name is mentioned in Jane Austen's letters. Charles and Mary lived in Upper Norwood, known for its associations to the arts, and they had frequent presentations at their home. This is where their daughter, Lilian, met her future husband, Ferdinand Steiner. Ferdinand was only 28 and Lilian's parents did not approve of him. Apparently, he was too "old country" Jewish and German. But Lilian won out and the two were married in the West London Synagogue in 1891. Ferdinand, apparently following the lead of Lilian's grandfather on how to be successful, immediately let his membership in the synagogue lapse.

Leslie was born about a year and a half later. When Leslie was just 5 years old, his father moved the family to Vienna in an attempt to give them the experience of the cultural and intellectual brilliance happening there. This is when Leslie learned to speak German. However, because Jews still needed the protection and support of other Jews, and the Steiners were not part of that group, they did not have a proper place in any society and the family was forced back to England in 1903 when Leslie was 10 years old.

[Leslie Howard, c. 1895]

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