Harold Edward Bindloss | |
|---|---|
 Bindloss circa 1909 | |
| Born | 6 April 1866 |
| Died | 30 December 1945 (aged 79) |
| Nationality | English |
| Occupation | Author |
| Years active | 1898–1945 |
| Known for | Novels of life in Canada and adventure in West Africa |
Harold Edward Bindloss (6 April 1866 – 30 December 1945) was an English novelist who wrote many adventure novels set in western Canada[note 1], and some in West Africa and England. His writing was strongly based on his own experience, whether as a seaman, a dock worker, a farmer or a planter.
Biography
Bindloss was born in on 6 April 1866 in Wavertree, Liverpool, England.[2] the eldest son of Edward Williams Bindloss (born c. 1838), an iron merchant with six men in his employ at the time of the 1881 census. Bindloss had three sisters and four brothers. He spent several years at sea and in various colonies, especially in Africa, before returning to England in 1896,[3] his health broken by malaria.[4] Bindloss was absent from the family home in 1881, but the 1891 census found him living at home and serving as an iron-merchant's clerk, presumably for his father.
He apparently began work as a clerk in a shipping office but this did not suit his adventurous spirit, and he was at various times a farmer in Canada, a sailor, a dock worker and a planter.[4] He returned to England in 1896, presumably from West Africa, as he returned sick of malaria. Given that he spent more than a decade at sea and in the colonies[5], it seems likely that his experience abroad was in two parts, first as a youth, and than as a young man, after 1891.
After returning home in 1896 he began working as a journalist, and then wrote two non-fiction books based on his travels, the first, In the Niger Country (1898, Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh)[note 2] about West Africa, and the second, A Wide Dominion (1899, T. Fisher Unwin, London) about Canada. His first novel was Ainslie's Ju-Ju, set in West Africa which Truth described as "a book that has the double interest and excitement of a story and of a genuine record of travel and adventure mixed together judiciously."[7] This was the first of nearly one hundred novels by Bindloss. The next A Sower of Wheat (1901, Chatto and Windus, London) was set in Canada. This set the pattern for Bindloss, as most of his novels were set in Canada or West Africa. The Guardian refers to him as having two strings to his bow, stories set in Canada or West Africa, with the Canadian stories being remarkably superior.[8]
Bindloss married Mary Simpson Hossack (11 Mar 1869[2] – 2 November 1945[9]) the youngest daughter of Captain Joseph Hossack,[10] a marine surveyor, at St James Church in West Derby, Lancaster, on 12 June 1899.[11] The couple appear not to have had any children as the 1911 census records them as not having had any after twelve years of marriage.
Bindloss was a prolific author. The most common obituary estimate is that he wrote over 40 novels.[4][12] ABC Bookworld lists 62 books by Bindloss.[13] Kemp states that he wrote two to three books a year in the early 1900s.[5][note 3] The Belfast Newsletter states that he published 67 books.[3] However, Jisc Library Hub Discover[note 4] lists 89 books by Bindloss, the first two being non-fiction and the rest novels.[note 5]
He is remembered in the name of the town Bindloss, Alberta, Canada, established by the Canadian Pacific Railroad in 1914.[16]
Bindloss died on 30 December 1945 at Chertsey Hill Nursing Home in Carlisle, England. He had been living at Vallum, Burgh-by-Sands in Cumbria. His estate was valued at £24,774 0s. 9d.[17] His wife had died at home on 2 November 1945, and he was granted probate, as her executor just a fortnight before he died.[17][9]
Works
| Ser | Year | Title | Publisher | Pages | Title in US and Canada | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1898 | In the Niger Country | Edinburgh: Blackwood & Sons | x, 338 p. 1 fold-out map, 23 cm. | [note 6] | |
| 2 | 1899 | A Wide Dominion | London: T. Fisher Unwin | 239 p., (8º) | [note 7] | |
| 3 | 1900 | Ainslie's Ju-Ju. A Romance of the Hinterland | London: Chatto & Windus | vi. 274 p., (8º) | [note 8] | |
| 4 | 1901 | A Sower of Wheat | London: Chatto & Windus | vi. 373 p., (8º) | Lorimer of the Northwest | [note 9] |
| 5 | 1902 | The Concession-Hunters | London: Chatto & Windus | 316p., (8º) | [note 10] | |
| 6 | 1902 | Sunshine and Snow | London: S.W. Partridge & Co | 128, 24 p. : 8 ill., (8º) | ||
| 7 | 1903 | His Master Purpose | London: John Long | 316 p., (8º) | Thurston of Orchard Valley | [note 11] |
| 8 | 1903 | The Mistress of Bonaventure | London: Chatto & Windus | vi. 408 p., (8º) | ||
| 9 | 1904 | Daventry's Daughter | London: Chatto & Windus | vi. 364 p., (8º) | ||
| 10 | 1904 | The League of the Leopard | London: John Long | 324 p., (8º) | ||
| 11 | 1904 | True Grit. The Adventures of Two Lads in Western Africa | London: S. W. Partridge & Co | 330 p., (8º) | ||
| 12 | 1905 | Alton of Somasco | London: John Long | 375 p., (8º) | [note 12] | |
| 13 | 1905 | The Impostor | London: F. V. White & Co | vi. 311 p., (8º) | Winston of the Prairie | [note 13] |
| 14 | 1905 | In the Misty Seas : a Story of the Sealers of Behring Strait | London: S. W. Partridge and Co | 330, 32 p., 6 ill., (8º) | ||
| 15 | 1906 | Beneath Her Station | London: F. V. White & Co | vi. 310 p., (8º) | ||
| 16 | 1906 | The Cattle-Baron's Daughter | London: John Long | 316 p., (8º) | ||
| 17 | 1906 | A Damaged Reputation | London: F. V. White & Co | vi, 312 p., (8º) | ||
| 18 | 1907 | Delilah of the Snows | London: John Long | 346 p., (8º) | ||
| 19 | 1907 | The Dust of Conflict | London: John Long | 353 p., (8º) | ||
| 20 | 1907 | His Lady's Pleasure | London: F. V. White & Co | vi. 306 p., (8º) | For Jacinta | [note 14] |
| 21 | 1908 | By Right of Purchase | London: John Long | 346 p., (8º) | ||
| 22 | 1908 | The Liberationist | London: Ward, Lock & Co | 351 p., (8º) | Long Odds | [note 15] |
| 23 | 1908 | Thrice Armed | London: John Long | 334 p., (8º) | ||
| 24 | 1909 | The Greater Power | London: John Long | 347 p., fs., (8º) | ||
| 25 | 1910 | Alison's Adventure | London: John Long | 335 p., (8º) | A Prairie Courtship | |
| 26 | 1910 | The Gold Trail | London: John Long | 347 p., (8º) | ||
| 27 | 1910 | Hawtrey's Deputy | London: Ward, Lock & Co | 352 p., (8º) | Masters of the Wheat-lands | |
| 28 | 1910 | The Opium Smugglers | London: T. Fisher Unwin | 318 p., (8º) | The Boy Ranchers of Puget Sound | [note 16] |
| 29 | 1910 | Rancher Carteret | London: John Long | 335 p., (8º) | ||
| 30 | 1911 | The Protector | London: Ward, Lock & Co | 320 p., (8º) | Vane of the Timberlands | |
| 31 | 1912 | By Right of Passage | London: John Long | 318 p. : 1 ill., (8º) | ||
| 32 | 1912 | The Pioneer | London: Ward, Lock & Co | 373 p., (8º) | The Long Portage | |
| 33 | 1912 | The Trustee | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 328, 8 p. : col. fs., (8º) | Ranching for Sylvia | |
| 34 | 1913 | The Allinson Honour | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 320, 16 p. : col. fs., (8º) | ||
| 35 | 1913 | The Greater Power | London: John Long | 318 p., (8º) | ||
| 36 | 1913 | The Wastrel | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 320 p. : col. fs., (8º) | Prescott of Sackatchewan | |
| 37 | 1914 | Blake's Burden | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 320 p. : col. fs., (8º) | The Intriguers | |
| 38 | 1914 | Harold's Burden | London: Ward, Lock | 320 p. : 1 col. ill., (8º) | ||
| 39 | 1914 | The Secret of the Reef | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 320, 16 p. : col. fs., (8º) | ||
| 40 | 1915 | The Intruder | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 320, 16 p. : col. fs., (8º) | Harding of Allenwood | |
| 41 | 1915 | A Risky Game | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 320, 16 p., col. fs., (8º) | The Coast of Adventure | |
| 42 | 1916 | The Borderer | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 320 p. : col. fs., (8º) | Johnstone of the Border | |
| 43 | 1916 | His One Talent | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 320 p. : fs., (8º) | Brandon of the Engineers | |
| 44 | 1917 | Carmen's Messenger | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 319 p. : fs., (8º) | ||
| 45 | 1917 | Crossthwaite of Banisdale | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 255 p., 18 cm. | ||
| 46 | 1917 | Sadie's Conquest | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | vi, 7-303, 15, fs., (8º) | The Girl from Keller's | |
| 47 | 1918 | Agatha's Fortune | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 319 p. : fs., (8º) | The Lure of the North | |
| 48 | 1918 | Askew's Victory | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 319 p. : fs., (8º) | The Bucaneer Farmer | |
| 49 | 1919 | Dearham's Inheritance | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 319 p. : fs., (8º) | Partners of the Out-trail | |
| 50 | 1919 | Wyndham's Partner | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 320 p. : fs., (8º) | Wyndham's Pal | |
| 51 | 1920 | The Head of the House | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 320 p., (8º) | Lister's Great Adventure | |
| 52 | 1920 | Stayward's Vindication | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 315, [4] p., (8º) | The Wilderness Mine | |
| 53 | 1921 | The Man from the Wilds | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 319 p., (8º) | ||
| 54 | 1921 | Musgrave's Luck | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 313, [6] p., (8º) | Kit Musgrave's Luck | |
| 55 | 1922 | The Mountaineers | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 310, 10 p., (8º) | Northwest! | |
| 56 | 1923 | The Keystone Block | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 308, [12] p., (8º) | The Bush-Rancher | |
| 57 | 1923 | The Wilderness Patrol | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 312, [8] p., (8º) | ||
| 58 | 1924 | Andrew's Folly | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 310, [10] p., (8º) | Green Timber | |
| 59 | 1924 | The Boys of Wildcat Ranch | London: Wells Gardner & Co | 242 p., (8º) | ||
| 60 | 1924 | The Lute Player | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 315, [4] p., (8º) | Carson of Red River | |
| 61 | 1925 | The Broken Net | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 256 p., (8º) | Prairie Gold | |
| 62 | 1925 | A Debt of Honour | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 313 p., (8º) | ||
| 63 | 1926 | Helen the Conqueror | New York: A.L. Burt | 314 p., (8º) | [note 17] | |
| 64 | 1926 | Sour Grapes | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 304, [16] p., (8º) | The Broken Trail | |
| 65 | 1927 | The Dark Road | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 319 p., (8º) | ||
| 66 | 1927 | Footsteps | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 304, [16] p., (8º) | ||
| 67 | 1928 | The Firm Hand | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 320 p., (8º) | The Lone Hand | |
| 68 | 1928 | Halford's Adventure | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 319 p., (8º) | Mystery Reef | |
| 69 | 1929 | Frontiersmen | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 320 p., (8º) | The Frontiersman | |
| 70 | 1929 | The Harder Way | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 320 p., (8º) | ||
| 71 | 1930 | Harden's Escapade | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 320 p., (8º) | The Man at Willow Ranch | |
| 72 | 1930 | A Moorside Feud | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 320 p., (8º) | ||
| 73 | 1931 | Carter's Triumph | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 320 p., (8º) | The Border Trail | |
| 74 | 1931 | The Lean Years | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 320 p., (8º) | The Prairie Patrol | |
| 75 | 1932 | Right of Way | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 312, [8] p., (8º) | ||
| 76 | 1933 | The Loser Pays | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 319 p., (8º) | ||
| 77 | 1933 | The Stain of the Forge | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 312, [8] p., (8º) | ||
| 78 | 1934 | Sonalta Gold | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 314, [6] p., (8º) | Valley Gold | [note 18] |
| 79 | 1935 | The Lady of the Plain | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 319 p., (8º) | ||
| 80 | 1936 | The Forbidden River | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 314 p., (8º) | ||
| 81 | 1937 | Fellside Folk | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 317, [2] p., (8º) | ||
| 82 | 1938 | Posted Missing | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 319 p., (8º) | ||
| 83 | 1939 | Valeria Goes West | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 319 p., (8º) | ||
| 84 | 1940 | What's Mine I Hold | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 320 p., (8º) | ||
| 85 | 1941 | The Call of the Soil | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 316, [4] p., (8º) | ||
| 86 | 1942 | The Secret of the Scree | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 288 p., (8º) | ||
| 87 | 1943 | Caverhills | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 254, [2] p., (8º) | ||
| 88 | 1945 | The Laird o' Borrans | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 224 p., (8º) | ||
| 89 | 1946 | Richardsons of the Forge | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 239 p., (8º) |
Assessment
Bindloss was a popular author. Some of his works such as, Alton of Somasco, Alison's Adventure, Delilah of the Snows and Thrice Armed were reprinted numerous times on both sides of the Atlantic. One reviewer writes: "A new book by Harold Bindloss is always welcome. He tells a story well indeed, but one likes his books best perhaps for the environment which he knows so well how to sketch. He has written charming stories of the Canadian Northwest and one remembers with pleasure his novels Prescott of Saskatchewan and Winston of the Prairie."[22]
One strong feature of Bindloss's work was that he wrote from his own experience, either of the sea, of Canada, or West Africa. The Buffalo Courier notes that "His descriptions are not those of the land-lubber who writes from a safe-point of vantage... He writes from a varied and wide experience of the charm the sea exerts over those, who once set forth upon its trackless waste."[23]
The Oakland Tribune also wrote: "It has become so that a new book by Bindloss is warmly greeted, for while it Is like greeting an old friend, in a way, there is certain to be new characters and new manner of bringing a quickening of the blood and a tendency to hold the breath. Bindloss, besides writing of the sort of men and women that most of the world knows earns blessings by not making then transcend the improbable either in thought or deed. More briefly, they are human beings with greater opportunity for excitement that falls to the lot of most."[24]
Harrison stated that "Bindloss was probably a more capable craftsman than any native Canadian writer of the period" and that "he had spent enough time in the West to make his settings authentic with real observed details."[1]
Notes
- ↑ Harrison states that Bindloss set at least 19 of his novels on the Canadian prairies.[1]
- ↑ The book was quite topical as the Hut Tax War was in progress in Sierra Leone in 1898, as were operations by the Niger Coast Protectorate in Nigeria.[6]
- ↑ The Jisc Catalogue shows him as publishing seven books in 1910, five in 1908, and four in both 1907 and 1914.
- ↑ The Jisc Library Hub Discover brings together the catalogues of 168 major UK and Irish libraries. Additional libraries are being added all the time, and the catalogue collates national, university, and research libraries.[14][15]
- ↑ This total is subject to the risk of understatement as not all of his books are necessarily catalogued in the libraries covered by Jisc, and overstatement as the titles of his books varied by marketplace. ABC Bookworld identifies several books with two or more titles.[13], others have been identified by examining the copies of US versions on the Hathi Trust website.
- ↑ Non-fiction: Describes a visit to West Africa.
- ↑ A book about life in Canada, not a novel. The Morning Post wrote that while the book "may possibly be of some use to those who think of emigrating to Canada, though we doubt it."[18]
- ↑ Set in West Africa. Republished in 1914 as No. 158 in Hodder & Stoughton's shilling library. A mixture of fiction and travel documentary.[7]
- ↑ Published by A. L. Burt in New York in 1909.
- ↑ Set in West Africa. Truth said if you skipped the love scenes and wholly ignored the heroine, the book was "a really thrilling adventure story of West Africa."[19]
- ↑ Published by F. A. Stokes in New York in 1910. Published as a serial in the UK in 1906. An English engineer makes his fortune in Canada.[20][21]
- ↑ Published by A. L. Burt in New York in 1905.
- ↑ US Publication in 1907 by Grosset & Dunlap, New York
- ↑ US Publication in 1908 by Grosset & Dunlap, New York
- ↑ Set in the Rubber Trade in West Africa.
- ↑ Published by F. A. Stokes in New York in 1910.
- ↑ Published by Ward, Lock and Co, in London.
- ↑ U. S. Publication in 1934 by F. A. Stokes, New York
References
- 1 2 Harrison, Dick (1977). Unnamed Country: The Struggle for a Canadian Prairie Fiction. University of Alberta. p. 86. ISBN 978-0-88864-019-2. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
- 1 2 National Archives (29 September 1939). 1939 Register: Reference: RG 101/3073B: E.D. HCDQ. Kew: National Archives.
- 1 2 "Obituary: Mr. Harold Bindloss". Belfast News-Letter (Wednesday 02 January 1946): 4. 2 January 1946. Retrieved 22 September 2020 – via The British Newspaper Archive.
- 1 2 3 "Death of Mr. Harold Bindloss". Coventry Evening Telegraph (Wednesday 02 January 1946): 4. 2 January 1946. Retrieved 22 September 2020 – via The British Newspaper Archive.
- 1 2 Kemp, Sandra; Mitchell, Charlotte; Trotter, David (1997). Edwardian Fiction: An Oxford Companion. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 32–33. ISBN 978-0-19-811760-5. Retrieved 26 June 2020 – via The Internet Archive.
- ↑ "Our Portraits". The Graphic (Saturday 12 February 1898): 14. 12 February 1898. Retrieved 23 September 2020 – via The British Newspaper Archive.
- 1 2 "Letters on Books". Truth (Thursday 24 May 1900): 51. 24 May 1900. Retrieved 23 September 2020 – via The British Newspaper Archive.
- ↑ "New Novels". The Guardian (Wednesday 31 August 1904): 3. 31 August 1904. Retrieved 23 September 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- 1 2 "Wills and Probates 1858-1996: Pages for Bindloss and the year of death 1945". Find a Will Service. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
- ↑ "Marriages". Liverpool Mercury (Tuesday 13 June 1899): 8. 13 June 1899. Retrieved 23 September 2020 – via The British Newspaper Archive.
- ↑ Liverpool Record Office. "1899 Marriage solemnized at St. James Church in the parish of West Derby in the county of Lancaster: Harold Edward Bindloss: Reference Number: 283 JWD/3/2". Liverpool, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1935. Provo, Utah: Ancestry.com.
- ↑ New York Times, January 2, 1946
- 1 2 "Bindloss Harold". ABC Bookworld. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
- ↑ "Libraries on Discover: Contributing libraries list". Library Hub Discover. 25 August 2020. Archived from the original on 18 January 2020. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
- ↑ "About Library Hub Discover". Library Hub Discover. Archived from the original on 3 March 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
- ↑ Place-names of Alberta. Publication for the Geographic board by the Department of the interior. Ottawa: Geographic board of Canada. 1928. p. 20. Retrieved 22 September 2020 – via The Hathi Trust (access may be limited outside the United States).
- 1 2 "Wills and Probates 1858-1996: Pages for Bindloss and the year of death 1946". Find a Will Service. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
- ↑ "A Book with a Moral". Morning Post (Thursday 01 March 1900): 2. 1 March 1900. Retrieved 23 September 2020 – via The British Newspaper Archive.
- ↑ "Letters on Books". Truth (Thursday 16 October 1902): 51. 16 October 1902. Retrieved 25 September 2020 – via The British Newspaper Archive.
- ↑ "The Moral of the New Serial Story". Birmingham Daily Gazette (Saturday 07 July 1906): 3. 7 July 1906. Retrieved 25 September 2020 – via The British Newspaper Archive.
- ↑ "Fiction". Aberdeen Press and Journal (Monday 07 September 1903): 3. 7 September 1903. Retrieved 25 September 2020 – via The British Newspaper Archive.
- ↑ Oakland Tribune, February 28, 1915
- ↑ "Reviews of Books". Buffalo Courier (Sunday 07 March 1915): 57. 7 March 1915. Retrieved 22 September 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Bindloss: Consistent Harold Bindloss Repeats Successes With ""The Buccaneer Farmer""". Oakland Tribune (Sunday 16 March 1919): 11. 16 March 1919. Retrieved 22 September 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
External links
- Works by Harold Edward Bindloss at Project Gutenberg
- Works by Harold Bindloss at Faded Page (Canada)
- Works by or about Harold Edward Bindloss at Internet Archive
- Works by Harold Edward Bindloss at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Harold Bindloss bibliography
- Harold Bindloss, The Online Books Page, University of Pennsylvania
- Satellite image of Bindloss, Alberta on Google Maps