Cecil Street
Encyclopedia
Cecil John Charles Street, MC
, OBE
, (1884 - January 1965), known as CJC Street and John Street, began his military career as an artillery
officer in the British army
. During the course of World War I
, he became a propagandist for MI7
, in which role he held the rank of Major
. After the armistice
, he alternated between Dublin and London
during the Irish War of Independence
as Information Officer for Dublin Castle
, working closely with Lionel Curtis
. He later earned his living as a prolific writer
of detective novels.
, and another under the name of Miles Burton featuring the investigator Desmond Merrion. Under the name Cecil Waye, Street produced four novels: The Figure of Eight; The End of the Chase; The Prime Minister's Pencil; and Murder at Monk's Barn. The Dr. Priestley novels were among the first after Sherlock Holmes to feature scientific detection of crime, such as analysing the mud on a suspect's shoes. Desmond Merrion is an amateur detective who works with Scotland Yard's Inspector Arnold.
Critic and author Julian Symons places this author as a prominent member of the "Humdrum" school of detective fiction. "Most of them came late to writing fiction, and few had much talent for it. They had some skill in constructing puzzles, nothing more, and ironically they fulfilled much better than S. S. Van Dine
his dictum that the detective story properly belonged in the category of riddles or crossword puzzles. Most of the Humdrums were British, and among the best known of them were Major John Street ...". Symons opinion has not however prevented the Rhode and Burton books becoming much sought after by collectors and many of the early ones can command high prices. Jacques Barzun
and Wendell Hertig Taylor in their A Catalogue of Crime
offer a different perspective to Symons, praising several of the Rhode books in particular, though they only review a small proportion of the more than 140 titles Street produced.
Translations
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
, OBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, (1884 - January 1965), known as CJC Street and John Street, began his military career as an artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
officer in the British army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
. During the course of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, he became a propagandist for MI7
MI7
MI7, the British Military Intelligence Section 7 , was a department of the British Directorate of Military Intelligence. Part of the War Office, MI7 was set up to work in the fields of propaganda and censorship.-History:...
, in which role he held the rank of Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
. After the armistice
Armistice with Germany (Compiègne)
The armistice between the Allies and Germany was an agreement that ended the fighting in the First World War. It was signed in a railway carriage in Compiègne Forest on 11 November 1918 and marked a victory for the Allies and a complete defeat for Germany, although not technically a surrender...
, he alternated between Dublin and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
during the Irish War of Independence
Irish War of Independence
The Irish War of Independence , Anglo-Irish War, Black and Tan War, or Tan War was a guerrilla war mounted by the Irish Republican Army against the British government and its forces in Ireland. It began in January 1919, following the Irish Republic's declaration of independence. Both sides agreed...
as Information Officer for Dublin Castle
Dublin Castle administration in Ireland
The Dublin Castle administration in Ireland was the government of Ireland under English and later British rule, from the twelfth century until 1922, based at Dublin Castle.-Head:...
, working closely with Lionel Curtis
Lionel Curtis
Lionel George Curtis was a British official and author. He advocated British Empire Federalism and, late in life, a world state...
. He later earned his living as a prolific writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
of detective novels.
Novelist
He produced two long series of novels; one under the name of John Rhode featuring the forensic scientist Dr PriestleyDr Priestley
Dr Lancelot Priestley is a fictional investigator in a series of books by John Rhode.After 1924 Dr Priestley took over from Dr Thorndyke as the leading fictional forensic investigator in Britain, and featured in over 50 novels written over 40 years, solving many ingenious and misleading murders,...
, and another under the name of Miles Burton featuring the investigator Desmond Merrion. Under the name Cecil Waye, Street produced four novels: The Figure of Eight; The End of the Chase; The Prime Minister's Pencil; and Murder at Monk's Barn. The Dr. Priestley novels were among the first after Sherlock Holmes to feature scientific detection of crime, such as analysing the mud on a suspect's shoes. Desmond Merrion is an amateur detective who works with Scotland Yard's Inspector Arnold.
Critic and author Julian Symons places this author as a prominent member of the "Humdrum" school of detective fiction. "Most of them came late to writing fiction, and few had much talent for it. They had some skill in constructing puzzles, nothing more, and ironically they fulfilled much better than S. S. Van Dine
S. S. Van Dine
S. S. Van Dine was the pseudonym of Willard Huntington Wright , a U.S art critic and author. He created the once immensely popular fictional detective Philo Vance, who first appeared in books in the 1920s, then in movies and on the radio.-Early life and career:Willard Huntington Wright was born...
his dictum that the detective story properly belonged in the category of riddles or crossword puzzles. Most of the Humdrums were British, and among the best known of them were Major John Street ...". Symons opinion has not however prevented the Rhode and Burton books becoming much sought after by collectors and many of the early ones can command high prices. Jacques Barzun
Jacques Barzun
Jacques Martin Barzun is a French-born American historian of ideas and culture. He has written on a wide range of topics, but is perhaps best known as a philosopher of education, his Teacher in America being a strong influence on post-WWII training of schoolteachers in the United...
and Wendell Hertig Taylor in their A Catalogue of Crime
A Catalogue of Crime
A Catalogue of Crime, by Jacques Barzun and Wendell Hertig Taylor, is a critique of crime fiction first published in 1971. A revised edition was published in 1989 by Barzun after the death of Taylor in 1985. The book was awarded a Special Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America in...
offer a different perspective to Symons, praising several of the Rhode books in particular, though they only review a small proportion of the more than 140 titles Street produced.
Dr. Priestley Novels
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Other Books written as John Rhode
- A.S.F.: The Story of a Great Conspiracy (1924) (U.S. title The White Menace)
- The Double Florin (1924)
- The Alarm (1925)
- Mademoiselle From Armentieres (1927)
- Drop to His DeathDrop to His DeathDrop To His Death is a mystery novel by the American writer John Dickson Carr , who published it under the name of Carter Dickson, in collaboration with John Rhode...
(1939) (U.S. title Fatal Descent) with "Carter Dickson", a pseudonym of John Dickson CarrJohn Dickson CarrJohn Dickson Carr was an American author of detective stories, who also published under the pen names Carter Dickson, Carr Dickson and Roger Fairbairn.... - Night Exercise (1942) (U.S. title Dead of the Night). Sir Hector Chalgrove, acerbic businessman and Home GuardHome Guard-Military:*British Home Guard*Combat Groups of the Working Class *Confederate Home Guard, during the American Civil War*Croatian Home Guard and Imperial Croatian Home Guard*Danish Home Guard...
ColonelColonelColonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
, disappears during a World War II night exercise. His body is discovered days later in a capped, disused water well. Major Ledbury (Officer Commanding the Wealdhurst Company, Home Guard) assists police to find the killer and assuage local suspicion of his guilt.
Books written as Miles Burton
Series characters: Inspector Henry Arnold and Desmond Merrion, except The Hardway Diamonds Mystery and Murder at the Moorings.
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Books written as Cecil Waye
Series characters: Christopher and Vivienne Perrin - 'Perrins, Private Investigators'.
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Books written as F.O.O (Forward Observation Officer)
- With the Guns (Eveleigh Nash Company), 1916
- The making of a gunner, 1916 at Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
- The Worldly Hope (Eveleigh Nash Company), 1917, a war novel.
Books written as I.O (Intelligence Officer)
Non-fiction- Administration of Ireland, 1920, 1921 at Internet Archive
Books written as C J C Street
Non-fiction- in 1921, 1922 Full text at Internet Archive
- and Democracry, 1923 Full text at Internet Archive
- East of Prague, 1924 Limited view at Google Books
- The Treachery of France, 1924 Limited view at Google Books
- Lord Reading, 1928 Limited view at Google Books
- President Masaryk Ayer Publishing, 1970 Limited view at Google Books
Translations
- Vauban, Builder of Fortresses, by Daniel Halvey, translated with notes, 1929
- The Life and Voyages of Captain Cook, by Maurice Thiery, translated with notes, 1929
Short Stories
- On the High Seas, Cassell's Magazine of Fiction, September 1920
- The Ship's Doctor, "Sea Stories", 5 October 1923
- The Elusive Bullet, Short Stories of Detection, Ed. Dorothy L Sayers, 1936
- The Yellow Sphere, Sunday Dispatch, 3 April 1938
- The Vanishing Diamond, 1st publication unknown
- The Purple Line, Evening Standard, 20 January 1950
Non Fiction - newspapers and magazines
- Propaganda behind the Lines, Cornhill Magazine, November 1919
- Transport Problems and Reconstruction, Windsor Magazine, December 1919
- The Wireless Telephone and the Development of Modern Communications, Windsor Magazine, June 1920
- Railways of Czechoslovakia, as by Major CJC Street, "The Railway Gazette", 14 December 1923
- Slovak Peasant Art, Illustrated Review, 1923
- Slovakia Past and Present, Illustrated Review [Not confirmed], 1923
- Eastward through Czechoslovakia, Illustrated Review [Not confirmed], 1923
- In the Land of the Ruthvenes, Illustrated Review [Not confirmed], 1924
- Why People Like Detective Stories, The Listener, 2 October 1935
- Unsolved Mysteries No. 6: Solution to the "Mystery of the Murdered Lieutenant", The Star, 1938
Theatre
- Sixpennyworth, featuring Inspector Jimmy Waghorn (Unperformed). The play is set in the lounge of The Spotted Dog, a pub in a town whose name is not given, "emphatically so", and involves a neat method of creating an instant blackout.
Unpublished material
- Untitled, 48 page typescript of the opening chapters of an apparently non-series novel, set in the villages of Kildersham and Dreford and concerning a death at a pheasant shoot.
Radio
- Dr Priestley, BBC Empire Service, talk as part of the series 'Meet the Detective', 1935
- The Strange Affair at the Old Dutch Mill, play featuring Inspector Jimmy Waghorn, BBC National Service, 7 October 1938, as part of the series 'What Happened at 8:20"
- Death Travels First, play featuring Inspector Jimmy Waghorn, BBC Home Service, 2 and 9 July 1940 as part of a series of plays by members of the Detection Club