James Redding Ware (1832 c. 1909,

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

Andrew Forrester) was a British writer,

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

, creator of one of the first female detectives in fiction. His last known work was a

dictionary A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies ...

Early life

James Redding Ware was born in

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

South London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borou ...

, in 1832, the son of James Ware, a grocer, and Elizabeth, née Redding. By 1851, his father had died, and his mother, according to the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

, was a grocer and tea-dealer, and James Redding Ware was her assistant. By 1861, the household was no longer in place, and J. R. Ware was not readily identifiable in the census. But in 1865, James Redding Ware became a

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, at the Westbourne Lodge No. 733, and he was living in Peckham. He became a Junior Warden at the Urban Lodge, no. 1196, and by 1872 a Worshipful Master (WM).

Literary career

His detective works include: ''The Female Detective'' (c. 1863/1864), 'edited by A.F.'; ''Secret Service, or, Recollections of a City Detective'' (1864?); ''The Private Detective'' and ''Revelations of the Private Detective'' (both c. 1868). "Forrester" was for many years known to be a

, but who he was actually was unknown. However, one of his stories, "A Child Found Dead: Murder or No Murder?", was discovered, reprinted as a

pamphlet A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a hard cover or binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' or it may consist of a ...

and published under the name of J. Redding Ware, as "The Road Murder", an analysis of the

Constance Kent Constance Emily Kent (6 February 1844 – 10 April 1944) was an English woman who confessed to the murder of her half-brother, Francis Saville Kent, in 1860, when she was aged 16 and he aged three. The case led to high-level pronouncements ther ...

case. With this as a clue, Forrester/Ware's first stories of the female detective can be found in a journal entitled ''Grave and Gay'' in summer 1862. The character predates the 1863/1864 appearance of W. S. Hayward's ''The Revelations of a Lady Detective'' although not that of Ruth Trail. In 1860 a novel, ''The Fortunes of the House of Pennyl. A Romance of England in the Last Century'' (Blackwood's London Library) was published, with illustrations by

Phiz Hablot Knight Browne (10 July 1815 – 8 July 1882) was an English artist and illustrator. Well-known by his pen name, Phiz, he illustrated books by Charles Dickens, Charles Lever, and Harrison Ainsworth. Early life Of Huguenot ancestry, Hablot ...

, under the name J. Redding Ware. By 1868, he was a contributor to the ''Boy's Own Paper'', the series of penny-bloods owned by

Edwin Brett Edwin John Brett (1828–1895) was a Victorian editor and publisher of boys' magazines, romantic fiction and "penny dreadfuls" who pioneered the weekly format of serialised and sensational fiction. Early life Edwin Brett was born in White Horse L ...

, although no particular work has been attributed to him. He also contributed to ''Bow Bells Magazine''. Ware wrote ''The Death Trap'', a play staged at the Grecian Saloon, City Road,

Shoreditch Shoreditch is a district in the East End of London in England, and forms the southern part of the London Borough of Hackney. Neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets are also perceived as part of the area. In the 16th century, Shoreditch was an impor ...

, with George Conquest, the theatre manager, as the villain. He had now become a jobbing writer for hire, producing books on chess; a book on the Isle of Wight with photographs by William Russell Sedgefield and

Frank Mason Good Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curr ...

; a volume of ''The Life and Speeches of His Royal Highness Prince Leopold''; ''Mistaken Identities. Celebrated Cases of Undeserved Suffering, Self-Deception, and Wilful Imposture''; as well as writing extensively for magazines. His only seeming connection to his early days as a writer of detective stories was with the publication, possibly in 1880, of ''Before the Bench: Sketches of Police Court Life'' (London, Diprose & Bateman). Posthumously, he was most famous for ''Passing English of the Victorian Era. A Dictionary of Heterodox English Slang and Phrase'' (London, Routledge, 1909), published shortly after his death.

Works

*''The Fortunes of the House of Pennyl: A Romance of England in the Last Century'' (1860 as JR Ware) *''A Nice Quiet Cottage. A One-act Farce (1863)'' *''The Revelations of a Private Detective (1863)'' *''The female detective: he original lady detective, 1864', London: British Library, 2012. Reprint of the 1864 edition. *''The Road Murder. Analysis of this Persistent Mystery'' (1865) *''Tales by a Female Detective'' (1868) *''Opera Comique'' (1870) *''The Death Trap; Or a Cat's-Paw. A Drama in Four Acts'' (1870) *''The Modern Hoyle; Or, How to Play Whist - Chess - Cribbage - Dominoes - Draughts - Backgammon, and Besique'' (1870) *''The Isle of Wight'' (1871) *''Bothwell: A Drama in Four Acts'' (1871) *''Pipermans' Predicaments. A Farce, in One Act'' (1871) *''Bothwell. A Drama, in Four Acts'' (1871) *''The Meadows of St. Gervais. A Farce-comedy, in Two Acts'' (1871) *''One Snowy Night. A Comedy, in One Act'' (1871) *''In Quarantine. A Comedy, in One Act'' (1871) *''The Polish Jew: a drama in three acts'' (Emile Erckmann, Alexandre Chatrian, trans JR Ware 1872?) *''Before the Bench: Sketches of Police Court Life'' (1880) *''Some Social Science. A Satirical Comedy, in Three Acts'' (1880) *''Alpine Betrothals. A Swiss Eclogue, for Music'' (1880) *''Constant Woman: A Drawing-room Drama for Two and a Parlourmaid'' (1881) *''A Woman Will be a Woman. An Original Duologue'' (1883) *''Twenty and Forty. An Original Comedy'' (1883) *''Life and Speeches of His Royal Highness Prince Leopold'' (1884) *''Wonderful Dreams of Remarkable Men and Women'' (1884) *''Famous Centenarians'' (1886) *''Mistaken Identities: Celebrated Cases of Undeserved Suffering, Self-deception, and Wilful Imposture'' (1886) *''The Life and Times of Colonel Fred Burnaby'' (with RK Mann, 1886) *''Passing English of the Victorian Era: A Dictionary of Heterodox English Slang and Phrase'' (1909)''Passing English of the Victorian Era: A Dictionary of Heterodox English Slang and Phrase''
at the Internet Archive

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ware, James Redding 1832 births 1900s deaths 19th-century English novelists 19th-century English dramatists and playwrights 19th-century English male writers 20th-century English male writers 20th-century English non-fiction writers 20th-century lexicographers People from Southwark British detective fiction writers English crime fiction writers English male dramatists and playwrights English male novelists Writers from London

Early life

Literary career

Works

See also

References

External links