Ladbroke Lionel Day Black (21 June 1877 – 27 July 1940) was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
and
author
An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states:
"''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
who wrote mysteries, fantasy and science fiction stories, often under
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 ...
s such as Lionel Day, Lewis Jackson and Paul Urquhart.
Life
Black was born in
Burley-in-Wharfedale
Burley in Wharfedale is a village and (as just Burley) a civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. It is situated in the Wharfedale valley.
The village is situated on the A65 road, approximately north-west from Leed ...
and was educated in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
and at
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
. His father Charles Ingham Black was the curate of Burley, and his grandfather the Irish pirate or smuggler
John Black ("Black Jack"), who built Elsinore Lodge at
Rosses Point
The Rosses (officially known by its Irish language name, ''Na Rosa''; in the genitive case ''Na Rosann'') is a geographical and social region in the west of County Donegal, Ireland, with a population of over 7,000 centred on the town of Dungloe, ...
, Sligo.
Black was appointed assistant editor of ''The Phoenix'' 1897–99 before taking up a similar position with ''The Morning Herald'' in London. In 1901 he became assistant editor of ''The Echo'', joint editor of ''Today'' 1904–05 and was a special writer on the ''
Weekly Dispatch'' between 1905 and 1911.
He lived in
Wendover
Wendover is a market town and civil parish at the foot of the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated at the point where the main road across the Chilterns between London and Aylesbury intersects with the once important road a ...
for many years.
Works
Black published his first novel, ''A Muddied Oaf'' co-written with
Francis Rutter in 1902. He collaborated with
Robert Lynd on the 1906 collection ''The Mantle of the Emperor''. With
Thomas Meech he wrote a series of novels beginning with ''The Eagle'' (1906) under the pen name Paul Urquhart. He also wrote for newspapers and magazines, sometimes under the pen name Lionel Day. He also wrote some
Sexton Blake
Sexton Blake is a fictional character, a detective who has been featured in many British comic strips, novels and dramatic productions since 1893. Sexton Blake adventures were featured in a wide variety of British and international publications ...
books, but he is better known for his own detective creation
Havlock Preed.
Novels:
*''The Eagles'' (1906)
*''One Clear Call'' (1914)
*''The Turmoil'' (1915)
*''Cross Currents'' (1916)
*''The Buried World'' (1927)
Short stories:
*''The Panacea Boom'' (1902)
*''Monsieur Lecoq's Casebook'' (1908)
''The Great Bank Safe Mystery,''
''The Blackmailers,''
''The Country House Tragedy.''
*''Famous Mysteries'' (1908)
''The Strange Death of Lieutenant Roper,''
''The Eight-minute Mystery,''
''The Tragedy of Constance Kent,''
''Who Murdered Sarah Roberts?,''
''The Burton Crescent Murder,''
''The Great Harley Street Enigma,''
''The Battersea Mutilation Case.''
*''Through the Shadows'' (1912)
*''The Ballydoyle Regatta'' (1913)
*''My Lady of the Halls'' (1913)
*''Nurse Sorrell's Patient'' (1913)
*''The Tremendous Adventure of Mr. Jones'' (1915)
*''Cinderella'' (1915)
*''They Also Serve'' (1915)
*''Mother O’Mine'' (1917)
*''Ordeal by Battle'' (1917)
*''The Prodigal Father'' (1917)
*''The Way of a Maid and a Man'' (1918)
*''A Splendid Surprise'' (1920)
*''Red Magnus Backs Out'' (1933)
Family
Black married Margaret Ambrose, daughter of
William Ambrose William Ambrose may refer to:
*William Ambrose (politician) (1832–1908), English judge and politician
*William Ambrose (Emrys)
William Ambrose (1 August 1813 – 31 October 1873), whose bardic name was Emrys, was a 19th-century Welsh-language ...
barrister, QC and Tory MP, who was buried in Highgate West Cemetery in 1908 (his headstone was photographed by John Gay and is in the English Heritage photo library). They had four sons and two daughters. His wife Margaret was a suffragette, left-wing political journalist and writer, often writing under the pen name of Philippa Gray. According to her son Stephen Black, his father was very proud of his mother's popular literary success, getting very excited when he saw posters advertising her latest novel on the side of buses.
His son Stephen Black was also an author and a doctor; his daughter Brigit Ursula Hope Black (Biddy) married
Erasmus Darwin Barlow
Erasmus Darwin Barlow, FRCPsych, FZS (15 April 1915 – 2 August 2005) was a British psychiatrist, physiologist and businessman.
Born in London in 1915, he was the second son of Sir Alan Barlow, son of Sir Thomas Barlow, royal physician. His ...
. His grandson was the family planning pioneer
Tim Black
Doctor Timothy Reuben Ladbroke "Tim" Black CBE (7 January 1937 – 11 December 2014) was a family planning pioneer and founder of Marie Stopes International in London. He served as chief executive of Marie Stopes International for 30 years, fro ...
. His great-granddaughter is the architect Pippa Nissen.
References
External links
Bear Alley: Paul Urquhart (Ladbroke Black & Thomas Meech)at blogspot.com
The Love Letters Of Henry The Eighth*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Ladbroke
1877 births
1940 deaths
People from Burley in Wharfedale
People from Wendover
Authors of Sexton Blake