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MISCELLANY AND TRIVIA
CONTENTS
Literary Editors
Staff Writers
The Forty Most Prolific Authors
Late Extra
"Evening News" Books
Literary Editors
Writing in The Mightier Sword (1966), an autobiographical book
about her career as a Fleet Street journalist and author, Ursula Bloom recalls her
association in the early 1930s with the Daily Mail and Evening News
fiction editor Cecil Hunt (1902-1954), who took over the position for Associated
Newspapers in 1930. At some point in the 1930s, David Wilson MacArthur
(1903-1981) became fiction editor of both the Evening News and the Daily Mail.
MacArthur, a prolific author of novels, articles and short fiction, contributed many of
his own short stories to the Evening News in this period. His successor as
fiction editor was the estimable John Millard who, like MacArthur, wrote a number of
stories for the newspaper. Millard was a prolific writer of short stories and broadcast
plays. In addition to his Evening News post, he once served as assistant editor
of both John O'London's Weekly and The Strand Magazine. He was succeeded
in the mid 1950s (or possibly as late as 1960, there is some conflicting information
pertaining to this) by the Scottish-born Edward Cranston Campbell (1916-2006), who served
as literary editor until shortly before the newspaper ceased publication in 1980.
Edward Campbell was certainly an interesting man. A somewhat colourful
personality, he is fondly remembered today by his former colleagues on the Evening
News. Born in Glasgow on August 26, 1916, Campbell had a deep passion for the circus
and was himself a trainer of wild animals. He was known in particular as a lion-tamer. He
once choreographed a wild animal display act at Glasgow Zoo, before being called up to
serve in the R.A.F. during World War Two. Campbell also had a profound interest in magic,
and was personally acquainted with several famous magicians and illusionists. His early
career in journalism began with a stint as a reporter on the Scottish newspaper the Daily
Record. After Campbell's marriage to Mary Patricia Sworder in 1947, the couple moved
to Sevenoaks in Kent, where they raised three children. Although he also worked on the Evening
Standard and the Sunday Dispatch, his many years in Fleet Street were
dominated by his long tenure as literary editor on the Evening News. Raymond A.
Lee (1938- ), a writer who sold three of his short stories to Campbell, recalls him
fondly. Lee remembers that Campbell was "dedicated to finding the best quality"
among the many stories submitted to the newspaper. He never showed favoritism, although he
was most encouraging to new writers and more than willing to nurture "potential good
authorship." Considering the fact that Campbell had to deal with as many as 300
submissions in a given week, it is a testament to his professionalism and expertise as an
editor that he found time to offer advice and encouragement to budding young writers. Lee
is one such contibutor who will always remember Campbell with affection. After his
retirement from the Evening News, Campbell kept up his interest in mysticism,
publishing the reference book The People of the Secret in 1983 under the
pseudonym Ernest Scott. Campbell also maintained his lifelong fascination with circus
animals, giving a lecture to the Circus Zoological Society as late as 2005. He was 89
years old when he died on April 4, 2006. His wife of 59 years passed away in the same
week. An obituary for Edward Campbell appeared in the May 18, 2006 issue of the
entertainment magazine The Stage.
Edward Campbell with his lions at Andy Wilson's zoo, Glasgow in 1940
If anyone has any more information to share about Campbell, Millard,
MacArthur, Hunt or any other literary editors on the Evening News, I would be
very pleased to hear from them. I am particularly interested in knowing more about the
specific dates of tenure for each of the literary editors, as well as information about
any predecessors who held the position before Cecil Hunt.
Staff Writers
Below is a checklist of staff writers and journalists on the Evening
News who also wrote short stories for the newspaper.
Arthur Machen (writer of feature articles and book reviewer from
1910-1921, hugely influential author of supernatural fiction)
William McCartney (political satirist)
A. Bonnet Laird
John Connell
Claude F. Luke
L. F. Lampitt (features editor and book reviewer)
Stephen Williams (drama critic)
Dudley Pope (defence correspondent, later a novelist)
Leslie Thomas (reporter, later a novelist)
D. Wilson MacArthur (fiction editor)
John Millard (fiction editor)
Edward Campbell (fiction editor)
Colin Howard
Bill Boorne
Gerald Bowman
Frank O'Connor
Michael Gannon
Bill McGowran
Ken Follett (later a novelist)
Note: There are no doubt many more writers, in addition to those that
appear on the above list, who worked for Associated Newspapers and had their fiction
published in the Evening News (and indeed other periodicals). Certainly a number
of journalists on the Daily Mail contributed short stories to the Evening
News. It is also highly likely that many of the stories that went uncredited in the
early years of the newspaper's history were written by staff writers.
The Forty Most Prolific
Authors
Below is a checklist (a final league table, if you like!) of the forty
most prolific short story authors in the Evening News. More information about
these and other writers can be found on the Author
Biographies page.
Paul Feakes (1898-1985)
1. Paul Feakes - 397 stories
2. C. T. Stoneham - 334 stories
3. F. Keston Clarke - 243 stories
4. Eric Allen - 236 stories
5. Colin Howard - 214 stories
6. Philip Neville - 204 stories
7. Howard Jones - 197 stories
8. F. G. Turnbull - 194 stories
9. Rearden Conner - 188 stories
10. L. S. Howarth - 169 stories
11. Michael Kent - 167 stories
12. W. P. Speechley - 162 stories
13. H. P. Watts - 151 stories
14. Donald Gilchrist - 136 stories
15. Alan Hyder - 131 stories
16. Frank King - 118 stories
17. D. H. Barber - 116 stories
18. Herbert Harris - 106 stories
19. Frank Selsey - 106 stories
20. Rosemary Timperley - 101 stories
21. H. A. Manhood - 97 stories
22. Will Scott - 94 stories
23. Eleanor Burford - 91 stories
24. Ronald R. Smith - 88 stories
25. Jane Locke - 87 stories
26. Ursula Bloom - 87 stories
27. Trevor Allen - 80 stories
28. C. Gordon Glover - 80 stories
29. Clay Allison - 77 stories
30. Charles Irving - 73 stories
31. J. Jefferson Farjeon - 69 stories
32. Jeffry Scott - 69 stories
33. Michael Hastings - 69 stories
34. Jack McLaren - 64 stories
35. F. Morton Howard - 63 stories
36. John Newton Chance - 62 stories
37. Mark Byrne - 60 stories
38. John Creasey - 60 stories
39. Kenneth Hayes - 62 stories
40. A. M. Burrage - 59 stories
Late Extra
A Miscellany by "Evening News" Writers, Artists, &
Photographers
Edited by John Millard
Published by Associated Newspapers, Ltd.
This highly collectible book, although undated, is believed to have been
published in 1952. Late Extra includes an introduction by John N. Marshall, who
at the time was editor of the Evening News. It also contains an afterword by Evening
News literary editor John Millard, in which he reflects on how the book came about. Late
Extra was the first of its kind in that it was produced entirely by Evening News
staff. It contains a miscellany of original material by writers, artists and photographers
who worked on the newspaper. The book is made up of articles on a variety of subjects, as
well as cartoons, artwork, photographs and three short stories. A full list of the
contents of this book can be found below:
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword by John N. Marshall
The Chitty Goes to Cricket by John Marshall
Shark by John Connell
Courts Year by Year by James A. Jones
A Village Heroine by Harold Walton
London Laughs by Lee
Your "X" on the Ballot Paper by Stanley Dobson
Old Gilpin's Garden by L. F. Lampitt (this feature appears throughout the book)
Drama as a Social Force by Stephen Williams
Interested in Faces? (photographs)
This Way to the Woods (photographs)
Mrs. Smith's Gladys Started it All (photographs)
Why Are Film Stars? by Jympson Harman
Children's Cross Word
Into the Sun by Fieldfare
Horseless Generals
You See Him Everywhere by Bill McGowran
What Has Happened to the Oak?
The Wrong Carrots by L. F. Lampitt (short story)
Chaotics (this feature appears throughout the book)
London Laughs by Lee
Football as an Industry by J. G. Orange
London 100 years Ago by Peter Jackson
Ape, Spy, and Jehu Junior by John Arlott
These Pictures Made News (photographs)
"Let's go on Somewhere" by Bill Boorne
London 200 Years Ago by Peter Jackson
Cricket for Thrills by E. M. Wellings
London Laughs by Lee
My Centre Court Friends by H. R. McDonald
They Call it "The Rag Trade" by Gwen Robyns
"Snippets"
Paul Temple and the Nightingale by Francis Durbridge (short story)
When the Army Marches Off to Law by Michael Gannon
Motorless Peers
The Life and Strange Death of Eleanor Marx by Felix Barker
A Niece at the B.B.C. by Leslie Ayre
Yes, this will be my Fourth Coronation (photographs)
The First Ten Years are the Worst (photographs)
Ballerinas of To-morrow by Duncan Harrison
Next - the Heli-Bus by Cyril Birks
London Laughs by Lee
Crime on the Telephone by Sam Jackett
Senior Cross Word
London 300 Years Ago by Peter Jackson
With Nothing Up His Sleeve by John Millard
Crossroads by Frank O'Connor (short story)
Back to Magic by Gerald Bowman
Home Again by Tom Downes
No More Acorn Coffee by Frank Tole
Wild Life in London by Frances Pitt
It's All in the Day's Work by "Staff Photographers"
Land Ahoy! by Colin Howard and Gus
Motor Sport by W. R. Paulson
Doctor and Patient Should Work Together as a Team by "A Family Doctor"
Bridge - Problem for Detectives by Terence Reese
God and the Average Man by the writer of "A Saturday Reflection"
Chess Twin-Problem
"Well, I Know it for a Fact" by James Anderson
Statesmen are People, Too by C. F. Melville
That's a Good Idea by Rosalie Shann and Vivien Hislop
Coaching Our New Athletes by H. J. Oaten
Great Fighters by J. T. Hulls
Talk of the City by W. Ernest Smith
How "Late Extra" Began by John Millard
Solutions to Problems
"Evening News"
Books
In addition to Late Extra and the two volumes that comprise The
Evening News Collection, a number of books were produced by Associated Newspapers
(and other publishers) that featured material originally printed in the Evening News.
Several of these were by Henry Bridges Fearon (nephew of P. H. Fearon, the Evening
News political cartoonist), who under the pen-name "Fieldfare" wrote a
weekly column from the 1920s onwards detailing walks in rural areas of the Home Counties
and Thames Valley district. Fearon's love of the countryside inspired thousands of readers
of the Evening News for many years. Another long-running series in the Evening
News was the immensely popular nature column written by the photographer and
naturalist Frances Pitt (1888-1964). Pitt's wildlife articles ran in the Evening News
from the 1920s through the 1960s. To my knowledge none of her Evening News
articles were reprinted in book form, apart from one piece in the aforementioned Late
Extra. Frances Pitt did however publish a number of books, including her
autobiography Country Years (1961) in which she talks about her life in
Shropshire. Also worthy of mention here is the "Courts Day by Day" column by
James A. Jones, which ran in the Evening News for decades. Jones' entertaining
commentaries on the daily business of a Magistrates' court were considered essential
reading by many Londoners. A small selection of these were collected in book form in 1946
(details below).
All of the books listed below include material from the Evening News.
Dilly and Dally (1919)
By William McCartney and Poy (P. H. Fearon). Published by Thornton Butterworth.
A series of political cartoon strips taken from the Evening News and the Daily
Mail.
Who Told You That? (1921)
By Quex (pseudonym of G. H. F. Nichols). Published by Stanley Paul & Co.
Social gossip and before and after-dinner stories from the Evening News.
Crime and Insanity. Murder & Its Punishment. Musings on Murder.
(1925)
By The Right Honourable Lord Darling. Published by J. A. Allen.
Includes three articles printed in the Evening News in 1924.
London Town (1926)
By G. H. F. Nichols ("Quex" of Evening News). Published by Partridge, 1926.
Social gossip from the "Man About Town" column in the Evening News.
Tokefield Papers (1927)
By Frank Swinnerton. Published by George H. Doran.
A selection of essays, many of which appeared in the Evening News.
The Secret Places: Being a Chronicle of Vagabondage (1929)
By R. Francis Foster. Published by Elkin Mathews and Marrot.
A chronicle of the author, Reginald Francis Foster (1896-1975), and his friend
"Longshanks" travels in Sussex, Kent and Surrey. Most of the contents of this
book originally appeared in the Evening News.
500 of the Best Cockney War Stories (1930)
Published by Associated Newspapers, Ltd.
Illustrated by Bert Thomas, this is a landmark collection of reminiscences of the First
World War, originally published in the Evening News.
Tramping Round London. Forty-One Walks in London's Country (1933)
By Fieldfare. Published by Country Life.
Seeley-Bohn at School (1939)
By Donald Gilchrist. Published by Longmans & Co.
Adventures of the schoolboy character who starred in several of Gilchrist's Evening
News stories.
Matt (1944)
By Alan Hyder. Published by Quality Press.
Book-length outing for Matt, a young Jamaican boy created by Hyder, who featured in many
tales published in the Evening News.
Hitler Passed This Way (1945)
Compiled by Crawford Snowden. Published by the London Evening News.
A selection of photographs taken before and after the Blitzkrieg of 1940, illustrating the
extent of bomb damage to the capital. A reminder of the havoc caused by German attacks on
London during World War Two.
Courts Day by Day from "The Evening News" (1946)
By James A. Jones. Published by Sampson Low, Marston & Co.
A compilation of sketches detailing various cases in the Magistrates' courts, with an
introduction by Evening News editor Guy Schofield. James A. Jones' London Courts
column ran in the Evening News for many years. This compilation includes Jones'
first-hand account of the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial of 1945.
Kallee and Other Stories (1947)
by F. G. Turnbull. Published by Sampson Low, Marston & Co.
A collection of Turnbull's nature stories, many of which first appeared in the Evening
News.
Thirty Walks With Fieldfare (1948)
By Fieldfare. Published by Clerke and Cockerman.
More Walks With Fieldfare of the London Evening News (1949)
By Fieldfare. Published by Associated Newspapers, Ltd.
The Magic of Matt (1950)
By Alan Hyder. Published by P. R. Gawthorn.
A sequel to the earlier Matt (1944). This volume of Matt's escapades was
illustrated by Hyder himself.
London Laughs (1951)
By Lee. Published by Associated Newspapers, Ltd.
A selection of cartoons by Joe Lee that originally appeared in the Evening News
from 1934 through 1951.
New Walks With Fieldfare of the London Evening News (1951)
By Fieldfare. Published by Associated Newspapers, Ltd.
London is Stranger Than Fiction (1951)
By Peter Jackson. Published by Associated Newspapers, Ltd.
A collection of cartoons detailing facts about London that were first published in the Evening
News.
Walking Again With Fieldfare of the London Evening News (1952)
By Fieldfare. Published by Associated Newspapers, Ltd.
The Evening News London Yearbook 1953 (1953)
Published by Associated Newspapers, Ltd.
London Explorer: A Further Selection of Cartoons Illustrating
Fascinating Facts About London - Specially Prepared for the Evening News (1953)
By W. Crawford Snowden & Peter Jackson. Published by Associated Newspapers, Ltd.
The Evening News London Yearbook 1954 (1954)
Published by Associated Newspapers, Ltd.
The World's Strangest Stories (1955)
Edited by L. F. Lampitt. Published by Associated Newspapers, Ltd.
Twenty Walks in Buckinghamshire (1955)
By Fieldfare. Published by Associated Newspapers, Ltd.
Twenty Walks in Hertfordshire (1955)
By Fieldfare. Published by Associated Newspapers, Ltd.
Twenty Walks in Berkshire (1955)
By Fieldfare. Published by Associated Newspapers, Ltd.
Twenty Walks in Essex (1955)
By Fieldfare. Published by Associated Newspapers, Ltd.
Twenty Walks in Kent (1955)
By Fieldfare. Published by Associated Newspapers, Ltd.
Twenty Walks in Surrey (1955)
By Fieldfare. Published by Associated Newspapers, Ltd.
Young Seeley-Bohn (1956)
By Donald Gilchrist. Published by Faber & Faber.
More adventures of the schoolboy who featured in Gilchrist's Evening News tales.
Round Walks in the Home Counties (1956)
By Fieldfare. Published by Associated Newspapers, Ltd.
Garden Gadgets (1960)
By Roger Ward. Published by Associated Newspapers, Ltd.
Over 150 gardening tips from the pages of the Evening News.
Country Walks Around London (1967)
By Fieldfare. Published by Associated Newspapers, Ltd.
Hayseeds (1971)
By Hargreaves. Published by MacMillan.
A collection of animal cartoons by Harry Hargreaves (1922-2004) that were originally
published in the Evening News.
Hayseeds 2 (1972)
By Hargreaves. Published by MacMillan.
A further selection of Hargreaves' "The Hayseeds" cartoon strips, reprinted from
the Evening News.
Come Riding (1975)
By Ivor Herbert. Published by Chancerel.
Cartoon strips from the Evening News with information on how to ride and care for
your horse.
Fresh Water Angling (1975)
By John Mitchell. Published by Chancerel.
An illustrated guide to various aspects of angling originally published in the Evening
News.
Plain Sailing: Cruising (1975)
By Crab Searl. Published by Chancerel.
Instructional cartoon strips from the Evening News.
But Mostly Laughter (1990)
By Paul Feakes. Edited by I. & S. Payne. Published by Queenscourt Publishing.
A posthumous collection of short stories by Paul Feakes. Most of the stories in this
volume were originally published in the Evening News.
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