Josephine Tey
Page 41
Chapter Three: Secondary Schooldays, up until 1914
1. From the private MacKintosh family collection.
2. Information on the IRA comes from two main published sources: Charles Bannerman, Further up Stephen’s Brae: the Midmills Era at Inverness Royal Academy (St Michael Publishing, 2010), and Robert Preece, Song School, Town School, Comprehensive: A History of the Inverness Royal Academy (Inverness: IRA, 2011).
3. The Inverness Valuation Rolls (HAC) show Colin’s rental arrangements for the shop and flat.
4. Information from family headstones in Tomnahurich cemetery.
5. Information from death certificates and census records.
6. See Bannerman and Preece, above. Additional information from MacDonald, (1982).
7. Specific information about IRA marks, prizes and subjects comes direct from the school log books for each session. These are held in the IRA school archive (unpublished; not open to the general public). See also Inverness Royal Academy Prospectuses, HAC C1/5/8/7/8 and C1/5/8/7/9.
8. Scottish Universities had their own political representatives from pre-Union times, and the Combined Scottish Universities MP was a historical relic from this old Scottish practice, which dated back to James VI and reflected the importance of Universities in early modern Scotland. The UK Parliament continued the tradition, with various modifications, until it was finally abolished in 1950.
9. Typed biography, Penguin archive DM1107/841, 00.0841 1: The Franchise Affair; for publication in editions of the Tey mystery novels.
10. MacDonald, (1982), p. 114 and p. 117.
11. Photographs of the new gym and art blocks are available to view on the Highland Council’s history and culture website, Am Baile, and in the Paterson Collection http://www.patersoncollection.co.uk/.
12. In a letter to Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies, dated approx. 1934, she mentions how the pipes and drums of the Camerons moved her on a 1930 trip to London, from the Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies collection, ref. AM48.
13. Specific information about Inverness and the 4th Camerons during the War was found in Patrick Watt, Steel and Tartan (Gloucestershire: The History Press, 2012). More general information is widely known and discussed in many general histories of Inverness, especially Norman Newton, Inverness: Highland Town to Millennium City (Breedon Books, 2003). Local newspapers also give a clear picture. The Am Baile website also holds various photos, with detailed captions.
14. The Inverness Valuation Rolls (HAC) show Colin’s rental and home-owning prices.
15. John MacKintosh’s death certificate shows place and cause of death. Craig Dunain has extensive archives, though not all are freely available to the public – events that happened more recently are still restricted or confidential. John MacKintosh’s admittance to Craig Dunain and his case notes are available to view (with restrictions) at HAC.
16. In 2010 Inverness Museum and Art Gallery hosted an exhibition entitled Homecoming which included details of the McAskill family who underwent a similar experience. More happily, they eventually made the money they needed to buy the tenancy of a farm in Scotland.
Chapter Four: War, and first year at Anstey
1. See article by Jennifer Morag Henderson in the Inverness Courier, Friday 13th March 2015.
2. Details of IRA pupils from Bannerman, (2010), pp. 19–31.
3. Details on Beaton from Watt, (2012); Miles Mack http://milesmack.wordpress.com/2011/11/12/murdoch-beaton-secretary-to-the-%e2%80%9cdewar-report%e2%80%9d-1912/; letter from Murdoch Beaton to his wife dated 29th May 1915 (private Beaton family collection).
4. See Watt, (2012); and issues of the Inverness Courier.
5. Details on Peter and Peter John from census, birth, death and marriage records; military records; family headstones in Tomnahurich; and Watt, (2012).
6. Farraline Park School Log Book 1908-1923, 18th September entry, (HAC) C1/5/3/160/1/3.
7. Bannerman, (2010), p. 29; Carol Coles, http://womenshistorynetwork.org/blog/?tag=anna-muncaster.
8. Details of dates and exams from IRA school archive, and Inverness Royal Academy School Prospectus 1915–16, (HAC), C1/5/8/7/8. Details of art prize from a MacKintosh family friend, who heard it from Moire (Etta).
9. Typed biography, Penguin archive DM1107/841, 00.0841 1: The Franchise Affair; for publication in editions of the Tey mystery novels.
10. Colin Crunden, A History of Anstey College of Physical Education 1897–1972 (Warwickshire: Anstey College of Physical Education, 1974); Anstey College magazines; private correspondence with Dr Ida Webb, former Anstey principal; and the Anstey Old Girls (Scotland).
11. Josephine Tey, Miss Pym Disposes (London: Arrow Books, 2011), p. 42.
12. I thought it was pretty impressive to go to Anstey from the Highlands in 1915, but an Anstey Old Girl I spoke to told me the story of how, in 1915, her aunt went, by boat, to a PT college in Denmark.
13. ‘M. Davidson’ is listed in the Anstey College magazine class lists for Elizabeth’s year. Marjorie Davidson is listed in the class lists for the IRA, in the IRA school archive. Copies of letters from Beth to Marjorie are preserved in Acc 7708, no. 33, National Library of Scotland – Mairi MacDonald’s papers.
14. Acc 7708, no. 33, National Library of Scotland – Mairi MacDonald’s papers. Letter 6, 20/9/1939, Mac to Dave.
15. Accounts of this raid are easily obtained online, e.g. http://www.expressandstar.com/millennium/1900/1900-1924/1916.html
16. Elizabeth’s work as a VAD is mentioned in Catherine Aird, ‘Josephine Tey, the Person’ in Geraldine Perriam (ed.) Josephine Tey: A Celebration (Glasgow: Black Rock Press, 2011), p. 65. Aird, who knew Elizabeth’s youngest sister personally, confirmed to me that Elizabeth worked as a VAD in Birmingham. The Red Cross (private correspondence) confirmed the details of the convalescent homes in Inverness, but hold no records for Elizabeth.
17. Beth’s sister Etta shared many details with a friend. This friend, a writer, originally hoped to write a biography of Josephine Tey, but ultimately decided that her respect for Beth (and for the officer) would not allow her to publish private details of a love affair. She has never revealed the name of Beth’s officer, but has talked to me in generalizations about Beth’s wartime romance. While I respect Beth’s desire for privacy, this romance was a crucial turning-point in both her personal development and in her development as a writer, so I believe it must be understood.
18. John Gielgud, ‘Foreword’ to Gordon Daviot Plays (London: Peter Davies, 1953), p. x.
19. Beth’s nephew thought this man’s name was Hugh Fraser, but I haven’t been able to verify this when comparing it with the IRA school registers. There certainly were Hugh Frasers at her school, including one young man a few years ahead of her who specialized in music. However, this name may have been misremembered as it is very close to that of Hugh Patrick Fraser McIntosh (see Chapter 6).
20. Jessica Mann, Deadlier than the Male: An Investigation into Feminine Crime Writing (London: David and Charles, 1981).
21. There is an autograph book on display in the permanent collection in Inverness Museum.
22. Aird, (2011), p. 65.
23. Aird, (2011), p. 65.
24. Watt, (2012). Thanks to Patrick Watt for assistance with queries. More information about Alfred found online; www.edwardalleynclub.com, www.crystal-palace-mag.co.uk/remembrance.
25. Gordon Barber, My Diary in France: experiences and impressions of active service during a period of the war with the central empires (Liverpool: privately printed by Henry Young & sons ltd, 1917), available for reference in the military collection of the Mitchell Library, Glasgow. More information from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website http://www.cwgc.org/, invasionzone.com forums.
Chapter Five: Anstey’s second year, and teaching
1. Beth confused things by saying herself later that she spent three years at Anstey. The Anstey course was later extended to three years – a change which raised its prestige as it equated to a university degree – but at the ti
me Beth attended it was two years only, see Crunden (1974). Beth may well have attended summer courses though, making it two-and-a-half years.
2. Crunden (1974); Anstey college Jubilee magazine 1897–1947 (private collection of Dr. Ida Webb); www.connectinghistories.org
3. Mann, (1981); Acc 7708, no. 33, National Library of Scotland – Mairi MacDonald’s papers, Letter 6, 20/9/1939, Mac to Dave.
4. Crunden, (1974), p. 25.
5. M. Symington’s name and Inverness address is in the Anstey College graduation and Old Girl lists (Anstey College Magazine no. 29, Autumn 1927, private collection of Dr. Ida Webb). A search through the IRA school records revealed she was in Mary Henrietta’s class.
6. IRA school records show Jean in attendance up until 1917. Jean’s reference letter from her college confirms the dates. (Reference letter from James Munford, 6th November 1918, private MacKintosh family collection).
7. Leys Castle hospital opened in August 1917. Farraline Park School Log Book, entry 31st August 1917, (HAC), C1/5/3/160/1/3.
8. Letter from Josephine MacKintosh to Beth, Sun 17th Ju[l]? 1921, private MacKintosh family collection.
9. Crunden, (1974), p. 25.
10. Acc 7708, no. 33, National Library of Scotland – Mairi MacDonald’s papers, Letter 2, 23/1/1919, Mac to Dave.
11. Jean’s reference letters from her college and her employers are preserved by the MacKintosh family; they provide details of almost her entire career.
12. Colin’s ownership of the shops and flats is clear from the Valuation Rolls of Inverness (HAC).
13. The Oban High School Log book, held in the local archives, gives dates and details of Elizabeth’s employment at Oban, and her accident. Argyll & Bute Council Archives, CA/5/249/5. Details about the school in Reid (1993).
14. MS 26190, fol. 124, letter from Elizabeth MacKintosh to Marion Lochhead, 6th July 1933, National Library of Scotland; for publication in PEN newsletter.
15. Letter AM4, Gordon Daviot to Marda Vanne, Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies archive.
16. Gordon Daviot, The Staff-Room in Gordon Daviot Plays [3] (London: Peter Davies, 1954), p. 219.
17. Letter AM16, Gordon Daviot to Marda Vanne, 7 Jan 1940, Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies archive.
18. Letter AM3, Gordon Daviot to Marda Vanne, 16 Dec 1934, Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies archive.
19. Salary details from Reid (1993).
20. Letter from Mac to Dave, quoted in BBC radio programme Gordon the Escapist (1986), transcript available in the Scottish Theatre Archive, University of Glasgow; further information from private correspondence with Bruce Young (producer) and Tinch Minter (writer).
Chapter Six: Josephine, and Hugh Patrick Fraser
1. Aird, (2011), p. 65.
2. Medical details, and date of death, are from Josephine MacKintosh’s death certificate.
3. Details from Josephine MacKintosh’s will.
4. Details on Jean’s job from her reference papers, held in private family archive. Details on Etta’s career from conversations with her son; date of Etta leaving school confirmed from IRA school archive.
5. Letter from Gordon Daviot to Dodie Smith, 4thDecember 1937 (Dodie Smith Collection, Howard Gottlieb Archive, Boston) mentions her ‘abigail’, who is helping prepare the Christmas pudding, and the laundry.
6. Some secondary sources give a different date for Beth leaving teaching. This seems to be traceable to an article in the Inverness Courier, published in 1933. The Inverness Courier is not a reliable source when it comes to facts about Beth’s life.
7. http://www.nicolaupson.com/fact_and_fiction/index.html
8. MacDonald, (1982), p. 120.
9. See Aird, (2011), p. 65.
10. See Aird, (2011), p. 65.
11. Much of the information about Hugh comes from the foreword to his published collection of poems. Other information is from census records, and his death certificate, and from The 79th News, Regimental magazines, Jan 1920–Oct 1924, The Highlanders Museum, Fort George.
12. Hugh’s birth is recorded in parish records. Because he was an older father, his birth certificate is not available (as his birth falls outwith the range covered by the official government records). Hugh’s career is traceable through the MA records of Aberdeen University (http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/university-of-aberdeen/roll-of-the-graduates-of-the-university-of-aberdeen-1860-1900-hci/page-19-roll-of-the-graduates-of-the-university-of-aberdeen-1860-1900-hci.shtml), and the FASTI of the Free Church of Scotland (John A. Lamb (ed.) The FASTI of the United Free Church of Scotland: 1900–1929). Online bell-ringers’ records show some of his career (http://www.whitingsociety.org.uk/articles/scot-bells/gorbals-foundry-transcription-4.pdf), as his name is inscribed on the bell of one of his churches. I made a research trip to his church in Brockley, London.
13. Linda Taylor, A Brief History of the First Hundred Years of St Andrew’s 1882–1982 (1982), pamphlet.
14. Sunderland Daily Echo, Tuesday 29th March 1898; Surrey Mirror and County Post, Friday 16th Nov 1906.
15. National Archives, 1/380/350 CS76985.
16. Hastings and St Leonards Observer, Sat 3rd December, 1904, p. 4.
17. Edinburgh University Roll of Honour https://archive.org/stream/rollofhonour191400univuoft#page/464/mode/2up
18. The 79th News, Regimental magazines, Jan 1920–Oct 1924, The Highlanders Museum, Fort George.
19. The Weekly Westminster is available on microfiche at the British Library Newspaper Archives. The Westminster Gazette is available in bound leather volumes in the NLS.
20. See The Saturday Review, 24 July 1926, 8 Oct 1927 and 26 Nov 1927.
21. Josephine Tey, To Love and Be Wise (London: Pan, 1973), p. 140.
22. Josephine Tey collection, National Library of Scotland, Acc 4771/5. I believe the poems in this collection must have been published, as each one is dated and in some cases the name of a magazine is jotted next to them, but searches have not yet found the place of publication.
23. IRA records. Thanks to my own music teacher, Julia Gordon, for her analysis, understanding and playing of the music manuscripts from the NLS.
24. See Poems 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 in Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies archive.
25. Josephine Tey, To Love and Be Wise (London: Pan, 1973), p. 139.
26. Information on Hugh’s illness is from his death certificate.
27. Ernest Rhys, ‘Foreword’ in Hugh P. F. McIntosh, A Soldier Looks at Beauty (London: Simpkin Marshall, 1928).
28. Gordon Daviot, Claverhouse (London: Collins, 1937), p. 18.
Chapter Seven: Short Stories and First Two Novels
1. See Select Bibliography, The Works of Elizabeth MacKintosh.
2. Saturday Review, 16th April 1927, p599.
3. Saturday Review, 22nd Sept, 1928, p359.
4. Information from death certificate, and family gravestone in Tomnahurich.
5. MS 26190, fol. 124, letter from Elizabeth MacKintosh to Marion Lochhead, 6th July 1933, National Library of Scotland, for publication in the PEN newsletter.
6. In the MacKintosh family papers. The manuscript is typed, with the name typed at the very end in the same ink and with no sign of being a later addition. At the time this story was published in March 1929, Daviot was considering the publication of both Kif and The Man in the Queue – she had been asked for an author photograph by her new publishers, and had just revealed to them that she was, in fact, a woman. For the American edition of the book the publisher were keen to include both a photo and a biography, and so she began to consider a female pseudonym. See discussion later in this chapter, and Acc 7708, no. 33, National Library of Scotland – Mairi MacDonald’s papers, Letter 3, no date, Mac to Dave.
7. Letter AM5, Gordon Daviot to Marda Vanne, Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies archive.
8. This book came up for sale at a local second-hand bookshop in Inverness, where I examined it, and has subsequently been advertised and discussed online, see, for example, www.abebooks.co.uk.
9. A short version of Beaton’s life
story can be found in Watt (2012); further information from Dr Miles Mack http://milesmack.wordpress.com/2011/11/12/murdoch-beaton-secretary-to-the-%e2%80%9cdewar-report%e2%80%9d-1912/; thanks also to Colin Waller at HAC; and thanks to Murdoch Beaton’s descendant Iain Beaton, who shared memories of his grandfather.
10. Acc 7708, no. 33, National Library of Scotland – Mairi MacDonald’s papers, Letter 3, no date, Mac to Dave.
11. Paterson was well known in photographic and literary circles. He became friends with Neil Gunn and photographed Gunn, Hugh MacDiarmid and many other well-known people. His negatives are currently being archived and put online, and a book is being written about his life and work. See http://www.patersoncollection.co.uk/
12. BBC radio programme Gordon the Escapist (1986), transcript available in the Scottish Theatre Archive, University of Glasgow; further information from private correspondence with Bruce Young (producer) and Tinch Minter (writer).
13. See Orlando: Women’s Writing in the British Isles from the Beginnings to the Present – biographical and literary resource; Acc 7708, no 33, National Library of Scotland – Mairi MacDonald’s papers, Letter 3, no date, Mac to Dave; and manuscript of ‘Deborah’, MacKintosh family papers.
14. The cover art for Josephine Tey’s work has ranged from the stylish Art Deco drawings of the French hardback of The Man in the Queue, to the photograph of Debbie Harry as a beaten-up Betty Kane on the 1971 US paperback edition of The Franchise Affair.
15. Since then, Josephine Tey’s work has been translated into many different languages, including Spanish, German, Polish and Chinese.
16. Acc 7708, no. 33, National Library of Scotland – Mairi MacDonald’s papers, Letter 3, no date, Mac to Dave.
17. Mann (1981), p212.
18. Josephine Tey, The Man in the Queue (London: Arrow, 2011), p. 8.
19. Acc 7708, no. 33, National Library of Scotland – Mairi MacDonald’s papers, Letter 3, no date, Mac to Dave.
20. Colin sent postcards to his daughter Moire from Shieldaig in the 1940s, and often discussed the village and its inhabitants in his letters to her as well: MacKintosh family archive. In an entry to a Saturday Review competition published on the 31st July 1926, Gordon Daviot describes “a reedy tarn [that] lies under Shilldaig’s lee”. The spelling is inconsistent, and the description doesn’t entirely match the real place, but it suggests that she was familiar with Colin’s home.