ABRAHAM, Cyril Stanley [1915-1975]
The Onedin Line , one of the most popular drams series of the 1970's, was a compelling saga of 19th century Liverpool seen through the character of the seafaring entrepreneur James Onedin and his family. But few who savoured this look back into the city's history would have realised that it all stemmed from the pen of a man who had spent much of his working life as a corporation bus driver.
After schooling at the Liverpool Collegiate, Liverpool-born Abraham went to sea as an apprentice with the Lamport and Holt line. He served in the Merchant Navy as a wireless operator during the war, having also spent time as a 'Bevin Boy' at Bold Colliery. After the war he drifted into driving a bus whilst still nurturing literary ambitions. A turning point was his meeting local teacher Joan Thomas who would become his wife. She gave him encouragement and practical help and after some success selling short stories in the early 1960's he started to make his way into TV work providing material for some of the top drama programmes of the time such as Coronation Street, Z Cars, Dixon of Dock Green and No Hiding Place.
But it was his idea for a tale of old Liverpool seafaring that would be the crowning achievement of his writing career. The Onedin Line first appeared as a one-off BBC drama but it subsequently ran to over 90 episodes with Abraham contributing 21 of the scripts. He also wrote a series of Onedin novels. Abraham died, aged 64, in Manley in Cheshire.
Abraham's Liverpool residences included 9 Shanklin Road L15 and 1A Willowdale Road L18.
