Owen Rutter

Edward Owen Rutter (7 November 1889 – 2 August 1944) was an English historian, novelist and travel writer.

After serving with the North Borneo Civil Service from 1910 to 1915, Rutter returned to Britain during the First World War and was commissioned in June 1915. Rutter served with the 7th Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment in France and on the Salonika front. He edited the ''Balkan News'' which included, under the pseudonym "Klip-Klip", his parody of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's ''The Song of Hiawatha'' in serial form. Entitled ''Song of Tiadatha'' it has been described as "one of the masterpieces of Great War verse". Later published as a book, ''Tiadatha'' ("Tired Arthur") was the story of a naive, privileged young man who matures through his war experiences, particularly on the Macedonian front fighting against the Bulgarians, and including the Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917. This volume was followed by ''Travels of Tiadatha'' (1922).

Accompanied by his wife, who also took many of the photographs for his books, Rutter travelled around the globe, making extended stops in Borneo, Hong Kong, Taiwan (then known as Formosa), Japan, Canada and the United States among other places.

His many books included ''The Scales of Karma'' (1940), ''Pirate Wind'' (1930), ''Triumphant Pilgrimage: An English Muslim's Journey from Sarawak to Mecca'' (1937), ''Pagans of North Borneo'' (1929), and ''Through Formosa: An Account of Japan's Island Colony'' (1923). He was also the author of works on Captain William Bligh and the Mutiny on the Bounty. His novel ''Lucky Star'' was filmed as ''Once in a New Moon'' in 1935. ''Triumphant Pilgrimage'' was an account of "David Chale", a pseudonym for Gerard MacBryan.''The White Rajahs: A History of Sarawak from 1841 to 1946'' by Steven Runciman, p.246

From 1933, he was a partner in the Golden Cockerel Press. During the Second World War Major Rutter worked for the Ministry of Information writing a number of booklets covering the British war effort.

He was fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and of the Royal Anthropological Institute. Rutter was a member of the Athenaeum Club, London.

Book editions Golden Cockerel Press with Introduction and Notes by Owen Rutter

The Journal of James Morrison.jpg
The First Fleet 02.jpg
Bligh’s voyage in the Resource 03.jpg
A voyage round the world with Captain Cook 03.jpg

Partial bibliography

*1920 ''The Song of Tiadatha''
*1921 ''Chandu'' (Opium) (London: Queensway Press)
*1922 ''British North Borneo: An Account of Its History, Resources and Native Tribes'' (London: Constable and Co Ltd)
*1922 ''The Travels of Tiadatha'' (London: T. Fisher Unwin)
*1923 ''The Dragon of Kinabalu. Bornean folk-tales''
*1923 ''General Sir John Cowans G.C.B., G.C.M.G. The Quartermaster-General of the Great War. Volume I'' (with Major Desmond Chapman-Huston) (London: Hutchinson and Co)
*1923 ''Through Formosa: An Account of Japan's Island Colony''
*1924 ''General Sir John Cowans G.C.B., G.C.M.G. The Quartermaster-General of the Great War Volume II'' (with Major Desmond Chapman-Huston) (London: Hutchinson and Co)
*1925 ''Dog Days'' (An anthology of poems on dogs)
*1925 ''The New Baltic States and Their Future: an Account of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia'' (London: Methuen)
*1926 ''Sepia'' (London: Hutchinson and Co) (republished in 1934 as ''Passion Fruit'')
*1928 ''Ask Me Another'' (London: T. Fisher Unwin)
*1928 ''Golden Rain'' (London: T. Fisher Unwin)
*1929 ''Lucky Star''
*1929 ''The Pagans of North Borneo'' (London: Hutchinson and Co)
*1930 ''One Family, A Dream of Real Things'' (London: Elkin Mathews & Marrot)
*1930 ''The Pirate Wind: Tales of the Sea-Robbers of Malaya'' (London: Hutchinson and Co); Oxford University Press reprint 1986.
*1931 (ed) ''The Court Martial of the Bounty Mutineers'' (William Hodge)
*1932 ''The Monster of Mu'' (London: Ernest Benn)
*1932 ''Once in a New Moon''
*1932 ''The Ostrich, at Colnbrook. With illustrations'' (Some British Inns. no. 14.)
*1933 ''If Crab No Walk: A Traveller in the West Indies'' (London: Hutchinson and Co)
*1933 ''What, Where & Who? A Book of Questions for Children'' (London: Benn)
*1934 (ed) ''The History of the Seventh (Service) Battalion, the Royal Sussex Regiment. 1914-1919'' (London: Times Publishing Co)
*1934 ''One Fair Daughter'' (London: Victor Gollancz)
*1934 ''Passion Fruit'' (originally published in 1926 as ''Sepia'')
*1935 (ed) '' Rajah Brooke & Baroness Burdett Coutts. Consisting of the letters from Sir James Brooke to Miss Angela, afterwards Baroness, Burdett Coutts''
*1935 (ed) ''The Voyage of the Bounty's Launch'' (Golden Cockerel Press)
*1936 ''Clear Waters''
*1936 ''The True Story of the Mutiny in the Bounty'' (Newnes)
*1936 ''Turbulent Journey: a Life of William Bligh Vice-Admiral of the Blue'' (London: Ivor Nicholson & Watson)
*1937 ''Bligh's Voyage in the Resource'' (Golden Cockerel Press)
*1937 ''The First Fleet. The Record of the Foundation of Australia from its Conception to the Settlement at Sydney Cove. Compiled from Original Documents, with Extracts from the Log-Books of HMS Sirius'' (Golden Cockerel Press)
*1937 ''Triumphant Pilgrimage: An English Muslim's journey from Sarawak to Mecca''
*1938 ''Anne Alone'' (London: Michael Joseph)
*1938 ''At the Three Sugar Loaves and Crown: a Brief History of the Firm of Messrs. Davison, Newman & Company Now Incorporated with the West Indian Produce Association Limited'' (London: Davison, Newman & Co )
*1939 ''Regent of Hungary: The Authorized Life of Admiral Nicholas Horthy'' (London: Rich and Cowan)
*1939 (ed) '' John Fryer of the Bounty'' (Golden Cockerel Press)
*1939 ''Portrait of a Painter. The Authorized Life of Philip de László'' (with Fülöp Elek László)
*1939 ''White Rajah'' (London: Hutchinson and Co)
*1940 ''The Scales of Karma''
*1941 (ed) ''Allies in Arms. The Battle for Freedom''
*1941 ''The Land of Saint Joan'' (London: Methuen)
*1943 ''Red Ensign: A History of Convoy'' (London: Robert Hale)
*1944 ''The British Navy's Air Arm: The Official Story of the British Navy's Air Operations''
*1946 (ed) We Happy Few' An Anthology I: Britain at War II: Britain at Sea III: Britain in the Air'' (Golden Cockerel Press)
*date of publication uncertain ''The Four Leaf Clover''
*date of publication uncertain ''One Family. A Dream of Real Things ... Adapted from the film by Walter Creighton, with illustrations therefrom''
*date of publication uncertain ''Rack Your Brain. A Naval Question Book''
*date of publication uncertain ''Vendetta''
*date of publication uncertain ''Violation: A Variation on an Old Theme''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rutter, Owen
English travel writers
Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society
1889 births
1944 deaths
British Army personnel of World War I
Wiltshire Regiment officers
English World War I poets
20th-century male writers
North Borneo Chartered Company administrators