18 Leeds Mercury, 19 Feb 1926, p. 4
19 Alan Garth, A History of the Publicity Club of London, Publicity Club of London, 1978, pp. 34–6
20 Vote, 27 May 1921, p. 2
21 Dundee Evening Telegraph, 30 May 1921, p. 6
22 Ibid.; Advertising World, Jun 1921, p. 584
23 History of the Publicity Club (Vol. 1), History of Advertising Trust archives
24 David Doughan and Peter Gordon, Women, Clubs and Associations in Britain, Routledge, 2006, p. 128
25 Janet Haywood, History of Soroptimist International, Soroptimist International, 1995, p. 3
26 Adelaide Advertiser (Australia), 25 Jan 1932, p. 88
27 Birmingham Gazette, 16 Jun 1937, p. 9
28 Holborn Guardian, 9 Nov 1934, p. 5
29 Annual Report of the Medical Officer of Health for 1935, Metropolitan Borough of Holborn, p. 29
30 Council Minutes 1935, Metropolitan Borough of Holborn, p. 211
31 Ibid., p. 360; p. 359
32 General Register Office. Birth Certificate. Greenwich. 1898 Mar Q. Vol. 1d, p. 1053, Barber, Ellen
33 Sunday Post, 24 Apr 1927, p. 12
34 General Register Office. Death Certificate. Greenwich. 1903 Dec Q. Vol. 1d, p. 556, Barber, Mary Ann Elizabeth
35 Ibid.
36 Geoffrey Charles Palmer and Alice Barber, 17 Dec 1903. All Saints Church, Rotherhithe, Marriages. London Metropolitan Archives
37 Ellen Barber, 29 May 1906, Colls Road School Admission Register, London Metropolitan Archives
38 Daily Mail Atlantic Edition, 17 Jun 1931, p. 6
Chapter Fifteen: A Case of Identity
1 Pearson’s Weekly, 5 Apr 1913, p. 1045
2 Competitors’ Journal and Everybody’s Weekly, 29 May 1926, p. 11
3 Sunday Chronicle, 14 Feb 1926, p. 3
4 Het Nieuws van den Dag voor Nederlandsch-Indië (Dutch East Indies), 29 Mar 1930, p. 288
5 Daily Express, 1 May 1914, p. 4; Pearson’s Magazine, Nov 1926, p. 431; Weekly Irish Times, 1 Feb 1930, p. 10
6 Police (France), Vol. 54, 6 Dec 1931, p. 14
7 From ‘Burlington Bertie’, composed by Harry B. Norris and performed by Vesta Tilley
8 Anthony Slide, Great Pretenders: A History of Male and Female Impersonation in the Performing Arts, Wallace-Homestead, 1986, p. 61
9 M.A.P. (Mainly About People), 5 Feb 1910, p. 171
10 Crystal Palace. Season 1877-78. October 6th, 1877–May 18th, 1878. MS Crystal Palace Saturday Concerts. British Library.
11 Northern Whig, 21 Jun 1904, p. 10
12 Daily Telegraph, 16 Oct 1905, p. 15
13 Lloyd’s Weekly News, 19 May 1907, p. 6
14 Advertisement for rooms at 20 Arundel Gardens W11, West London Observer, 14 Oct 1927, p. 13
15 General Register Office. Death Certificate. Kensington. 1931 Dec Q. Vol. 1a, p. 147, Easton, Kate
16 People, 25 Jan 1914, p. 1
17 Pearson’s Weekly, 19 May 1928, p. 1323
18 Hobart Mercury (Australia), 21 Dec 1938, pp. 6 and 8
19 Winnipeg Free Press (Canada), 16 Jul 1932, p. 14
20 Daily Mail, 9 Jun 1931, p. 9
21 Australian Worker, 9 Nov 1932, p. 19
22 Daily Mirror, 5 Mar 1936, p. 11
23 Het Nieuws van den Dag voor Nederlandsch-Indië (Dutch East Indies), 29 Mar 1930, p. 288
24 Mooi Limburg (Dutch East Indies), 10 Sep 1938, p. 7
25 Press photograph of Constance Ryland, 25 Jun 1937. topfoto.co.uk, ref: EU054457
26 Hobart Mercury (Australia), 21 Dec 1938, p. 8
27 1939 Register, RG101/0383D/011/28 Letter Code: AOCA. www.findmypast.com
Chapter Sixteen: Farewell, My Lady
1 Sunday Post, 14 Mar 1926, p. 11
2 General Register Office. Death Certificate. Ashford. 1953 Jun Q. Vol. 5b, p. 14. Elliott, Denis Frank
* In such cases, a husband would seek financial compensation for the corruption of his wife, regardless of the affair’s effect on the marriage (‘conversation’ being an obsolete term for sexual intercourse).
Picture Acknowledgements
1. Solicitors’ Journal and Weekly Reporter, 13 Dec 1924, p. 184 / British Library; 5. Contains public-sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0; 8 (top). Sunday Times, 4 July 1909, p. 1 / British Library; 8 (bottom). The Times, 13 Mar 1936, p. 1 / British Library; 9. Sunday Times, 9 Nov 1930, p. 15 / British Library; 11 (first). Ville de Paris / BiLiPo; 11 (second). State Library of New South Wales: BN249; 11 (third). National Library of Australia, Adelaide Saturday Journal (Australia), 10 July 1926, p. 4 6449460; 11 (fourth). ANNO / Austrian National Library, Czernowitzer Allgemeine Zeitung, 6 July 1913, p. 7; 14 (first). The Phantom Thief (1937, March 4). Huon and Derwent Times (Tas: 1933–1942), p. 3. Retrieved 12 Dec 2018 from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article136031669; 14 (second and third). State Library of New South Wales: TN201; 15. CROOKS I HAVE FOILED. (1920, Sept 3). Huon Times (Franklin, Tas: 1910–1933), p. 6. Retrieved 12 Dec 2018 from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article135831129; 19, 50, 67, 75 (right) and endpapers. By courtesy of the author; 28. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Civil War Photographs, [LC-DIG-CWPB-03861]; 29 (first). Two Clever Sisters, Daily Mail, 15 July 1919, p. 3 / British Library; 29 (second). N-P-Manawatu-Standard-29-12-1923-p11, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand; 29 (third). Daily Mail, 14 July 1919, p. 5 / British Library; 31. Fox Photos / Stringer; 35. Sporting Times, 1 Dec 1894, p. 4 / British Library; 40 (top and bottom). Sunday Post, 14 Mar 1926, p. 11 / British Library; 47. Sunday Times, 4 July 1909, p. 1 / British Library; 63, 105. London Gazette, issue 33991, 31 Oct 1933 / British Library; 68 (left and right), 75 (left). The San Francisco Call (San Francisco [Calif.]), 3 Aug 1913. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85066387/1913-08-03/ed-1/seq-17/; 98. New York Tribune, 16 Jun 1914, p. 3 / British Library; 103. Daily Telegraph, 11 Apr 1911, p. 20 / British Library; 104. Archives and Local History, Manchester Central Library; 114, 128. Courtesy of Camden Local Studies and Archives Centre; 127. Nottingham Journal, 30 Oct 1912, p. 6 / British Library; 134. Daily Express, 1 May 1914, p. 4 / British Library; 149. Sportsman’s Gazette, 11 Jun 1915, p. 360 / British Library; 163. Era, 5 Mar 1919, p. 18 / British Library; 172. Hendon and Finchley Times, 18 Nov 1927, p. 5 / British Library; 173. Royal Aero Club Trust; 180. 283, 359. Elliott, H. G. Feb 18 1927, worldwide.espacenet.com; 194. Daily Mail, 29 Oct 1937, p. 8 / British Library; 196, 217. By courtesy of the author, Crown Copyright; 227. Cumbria Archive Service, Barrow; 231. Topical Press Agency / Stringer; 256. Anonymous / AP / REX / Shutterstock; 284, 285, 333. By courtesy of Brian Elliott; 287. National Archives Australia: A461, G349/1/7; 301. © Museum of London; 316 (left). Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=607490; 316 (right). © Victoria and Albert Museum, London; 330. State Library of New South Wales: BN217
The Adventures of
Maud West, Lady Detective
‘If you are inclined to regard the “Golden Age” detective stories as obviously a fantasy form – and never more fantastic than when the sleuth is a woman – Susannah Stapleton’s book will astound you. “Maud West” was a real woman detective, but her story blurs the margin between possible truth and impossible invention till your head spins. If you are susceptible to Miss Marple and Harriet Vane you must read The Adventures of Maud West. You will never know the difference between fact and fiction again.’
Jill Paton Walsh, author of the Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane mysteries
‘I rocketed through this terrific book. A brilliant literary sleuth tracks down a real one, uncovering a flabbergasting hidden life along the way. And if you thought that detective novels exaggerate the amount of inter-war crime, you are wrong.’
Lissa Evans, author of Crooked Heart and Old Baggage
‘A deliciously entertaining, meticulous and affectionate investigation into one of the great unsung heroines of British detection, our very own rea
l-life, female Sherlock Holmes. Criminally good. It’s impossible not to love this book.’
Mel McGrath, author of Give Me the Child and The Guilty Party
‘A powerhouse of a book, both a biography of one of the first women detectives, and a portrait of the Jazz Age, that society perched uncomfortably between Victoria and modernism. But Susannah Stapleton’s more profound achievement is in encouraging her readers to follow along as she goes about the business of the historian and biographer, permitting us to watch history being uncovered in real time. The Adventures of Maud West, Lady Detective is, as one suspects Maud herself was, sweet, and wonderful company, and absolutely determined to discover the truth.’
Judith Flanders, author of The Invention of Murder and the Sam Clair mysteries
‘Maud West is a gloriously English eccentric – think Miranda Hart meets Margaret Rutherford – brought to vigorous life by present-day sleuth Susannah Stapleton. Stapleton brings a keen eye for bizarre and quirky detail to this compelling tale of London’s leading female private detective in the days before the Second World War. But it’s also a charming and deeply felt love letter to a completely forgotten trailblazer who forged a complex life and successful career when many women were banished to the typing pool, the nursery or the kitchen.’
Sean O’Connor, author of Handsome Brute
‘Susannah Stapleton’s dogged sleuthing of Maud’s own complicated, messy, spunky life reveals the wider story of a little-explored sliver of life between the wars: female detection with all its risks, boredoms, tawdry deceptions, disguises and necessary seductions. I loved it.’
Kate Colquhoun, author of Mr Briggs’ Hat and Did She Kill Him?
About the Author
Author photo © Jim Hawkins
Susannah Stapleton is a historical researcher with over twenty years’ experience unravelling mysteries for museums, organizations and private individuals. She lives in Shropshire.
First published 2019 by Picador
This electronic edition published 2019 by Picador
an imprint of Pan Macmillan
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ISBN 978-1-5098-6731-8
Copyright © Susannah Stapleton 2019
Design and illustration: Mel Four, Picador Art Department
Photographs of Maud West © Archives and Local History, Manchester Central Library
The right of Susannah Stapleton to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Pan Macmillan does not have any control over, or any responsibility for, any author or third-party websites referred to in or on this book.
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