Herbert John Allingham (1867–10 January 1936) was an English editor, journalist, serial

pulp fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, who conceived it with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Ving Rhame ...

writer, husband of writer

Emmie Allingham The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

and father of crime novelist

Margery Allingham Margery Louise Allingham (20 May 1904 – 30 June 1966) was an English novelist from the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", and considered one of its four " Queens of Crime", alongside Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers and Ngaio Marsh. Alli ...

Early life

Herbert John Allingham was born in Kennington, South London in 1867, the second of eight sons of James William Allingham (then a printer) and his wife, Louisa. When aged 15 he went to

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

as a non-collegiate student, graduating as BA in 1889.Herbert Allingham biography
golden-duck.co.uk website; accessed 2013-09-16.

Editor

In 1874, Allingham's grandfather died. His father used the legacy to found ''The Christian Globe'', a

non-denominational A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination. Overview The term has been used in the context of various faiths including Jainism, Baháʼí Fait ...

penny weekly mainly funded by

patent medicine A patent medicine, sometimes called a proprietary medicine, is an over-the-counter (nonprescription) medicine or medicinal preparation that is typically protected and advertised by a trademark and trade name (and sometimes a patent) and claimed ...

advertising. Allingham edited ''The Christian Globe'' for his father. In 1889 he became editor of ''

The London Journal ''The London Journal; and Weekly Record of Literature, Science and Art'' (published from 1845 to 1928) was a British penny dreadful, penny fiction weekly, one of the best-selling magazines of the nineteenth century. It was established by George ...

''. Later he left journalism to become a freelance

writer for both children and adults.Profile of Henry Allingham
margeryallingham.org.uk; accessed 29 November 2014.

Writing career

In 1886, Allingham's uncle, John Allingham (better known as Ralph Rollington), launched ''The New Boys' Paper'' penny weekly, in which Herbert published "Barrington's Fag", a "true tale of school life", initially under the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Herbert St Clair. In 1889, Herbert Allingham was named editor of ''

'', publishing his own story "A Devil of a Woman" in 1893. In 1906, Herbert Allingham was recognised by

Amalgamated Press The Amalgamated Press (AP) was a British newspaper and magazine publishing company founded by journalist and entrepreneur Alfred Harmsworth (1865–1922) in 1901, gathering his many publishing ventures together under one banner. At one point the ...

and began writing stories for '' Puck'', ''The Jester'', ''

Comic Cuts ''Comic Cuts'' was a British comic magazine. It was published from 1890 to 1953, lasting for 3006 issues. It was created by the reporter Alfred Harmsworth through his company Amalgamated Press (AP). In its early days, it inspired other publishe ...

'', ''

Chips ''CHiPs'' is an American crime drama television series created by Rick Rosner and originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. It follows the lives of two motorcycle officers of the California Highway Patrol (CHP). The serie ...

'' and ''The Butterfly''. By 1909, readers' enjoyment of Allingham's contrasting serials ''Plucky Polly Perkins'' and ''Driven from Home'' sent ''The Butterfly'''s sales figures soaring. This allowed him to resign from ''

'' (which ceased publication soon afterward) and move his family out of London to The Old Rectory in

Layer Breton Layer Breton is a village and a civil parish in Essex, England. According to the 2011 census there were 144 males and 143 females. "Layer-Breton, a parish, with a village, in Lexden district, Essex; on a branch of the river Roman, 5 miles SE by S ...

. From this time until the mid-years of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he was hugely productive. His regular editor was

Frederick George Cordwell Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Nobility Anhalt-Harzgerode *Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) Austria * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198 * Frederick ...

, a major influence in the development of British comic papers. Whenever Cordwell established a new title, he used Allingham (anonymously) as the lead writer and main attraction. Readers could enjoy Allingham's fiction on at least four days of every week. In 1916, Cordwell joined up, paper was rationed and casualties reduced readership of the comics. Allingham found work at '' Woman's Weekly'' often under pseudonyms. In 1918, financial hardship forced Allingham to lease thirteen of his most successful titles which were then anonymously syndicated across D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd regional papers. In 1919, Cordwell returned to Amalgamated Press and founded a new comic with Allingham once again as lead author. In 1920 many of his stories were reprinted in film-themed magazines. In 1926 Amalgamated Press was sold, Allingham's rates of pay were slashed and his work on the comics dried up as tastes changed. The hard times of the early 1930s unexpectedly reversed Allingham's personal circumstances. He became the lead fiction writer on two big-selling Amalgamated Press publications, ''The Family Journal'' and ''The Home Companion''. Many of his pre-war serials were hastily revised and re-issued and the editor (Anne St John Cooper) took as much new work as he was able to produce. Anonymity disguised the fact that Allingham's stories were running without a break, sometimes two or three at a time, for the next six years. In 1932, he was able to buy a small house at

Thorpe Bay Thorpe Bay is an area of the city of Southend-on-Sea, in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. located on the Thames Estuary. Thorpe Bay is situated within the Thorpe ward Ward may refer to: Division or un ...

in Essex. In 1935, he fell ill and retired, living off borrowings against reprint rights. When he died in 1936, his stories ran on into the autumn of 1937 when his debt had been fully repaid. Then they stopped.

Personal life

In 1902 Allingham married his

first cousin Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, " ...

, Emily Jane Hughes, who also wrote (as

). Their daughter,

Margery __NOTOC__ Margery is a heavily buffered, lightly populated hamlet in the Reigate and Banstead district, in the English county of Surrey. It sits on the North Downs, is bordered by the London Orbital Motorway, at a lower altitude, and its predom ...

(1904–1966) was a noted writer.

Bibliography

* (as Herbert St Clair) "Barrington's Fag: A true tale of school life", ''The New Boys’ Paper'', 1886 * "A Devil of a Woman", ''

'', 1893 * (as David Pitt) Boys' adventure serials for ''True Blue'' * "Plucky Polly Perkins" and "Driven from Home", ''The Butterfly'', 1909 * Commissions for women's magazines ''The Happy Home'' and ''

My Weekly ''My Weekly'' is a magazine for women. Published by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd of Dundee, Scotland. It tends to consist of short stories, reader contributions, knitting or sewing patterns, and celebrity gossip. There are no real life horror stori ...

'', 1914 * Commissions for '' Woman's Weekly'' 1916 * ''The Call of the Road'', 1921

Early life

Editor

Writing career

Personal life

Bibliography

References

Further reading