Queer Places:
Richmond and East Sheen Cemeteries, 33 Greville Rd, Richmond TW10 6HP, United Kingdom
(Alfred) Roger Ackerley (April 1, 1863 – October, 1929) was born on April 1, 1863, and became a highly successful British merchant and businessman. Widely
recognized in London commerce as the "Banana King," he co-founded the major fruit-importing company Elders & Fyffes alongside his partner Arthur Stockley,
shaping the commercial import trade and earning immense prominence in the business world.
Before his primary domestic relationships, Roger was first married to (Charlotte) Louise Burckhardt, a young Swiss woman of wealthy parentage who sadly died, likely of tuberculosis, before they had children. He later met Janetta "Netta" Aylward, an actress, while in Paris, and the two returned to London together. Although they lived together as husband and wife for decades and had three children—including Peter, the writer Joe Randolph Ackerley ( J.R. Ackerley), and Nancy—they did not officially marry until 1919.
Unbeknownst to his public household in Richmond, Roger maintained a second, secret family across London in Barnes. His mistress, Muriel Perry (who had served as a nurse during the First World War), gave birth to three daughters, including Diana Petre. The children knew him affectionately during his visits as "Uncle Bodger". This hidden aspect of his personal life was only revealed after his death through a letter left for his son Joe, prompting extensive literary exploration by both his son in My Father and Myself and his daughter Diana in The Secret Orchard of Roger Ackerley.
Roger Ackerley died in October 1929, leaving behind a massive legacy in the fruit trade, significant financial chaos due to his double life, and an intricate family dynamic that deeply influenced 20th-century English literature. His massive prominence was underscored at his funeral at Richmond Cemetery, which was attended by nearly a thousand businessmen from across the British Isles and the Continent.
Roger Ackerley's primary connections to queer history are defined through his prominent literary son, J.R. Ackerley, and the broader social context of his family lineage. J.R. Ackerley became a foundational figure in 20th-century British culture as an openly homosexual writer, poet, playwright, and the influential literary editor of the BBC’s The Listener. In his famous posthumous memoir My Father and Myself, J.R. Ackerley explored his own identity, romantic aspirations, and sexuality against the backdrop of his upper-middle-class upbringing, while also speculating on whether his father, Roger, may have harbored a hidden homosexual past of his own. Furthermore, Roger's descendants and the unorthodox structure of his dual households placed his children inside bohemian and literary circles that heavily intersected with major figures of early LGBTQ+ modernism, such as E.M. Forster.
Lady with the Rose (Louise Burckhardt) by John Singer Sargent
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