Cyril Hare
Encyclopedia
Cyril Hare, the pseudonym
of Alfred Alexander Gordon Clark (4 September 1900 – 25 August 1958) was an English
judge
and crime writer.
, the third son of Henry Herbert Gordon Clark of Mickleham
Hall, a merchant in the wine and spirit trade, Matthew Clark
& Sons being the family firm. The socialist politician Susan Lawrence
was his aunt. He was educated at St Aubyn's, Rottingdean and Rugby
. He read History at New College, Oxford
(where he heard William Archibald Spooner
say in a sermon that 'now we see through a dark glassly') and graduated with a First. Then he studied law and was called to the Bar (Middle Temple
) in 1924.
Hare's pseudonym is a mixture of Hare Court, where he worked in the chambers of Roland Oliver, and Cyril Mansions, Battersea, where he lived after marrying Mary Barbara Lawrence (see Lawrence Baronets
, Ealing Park) in 1933. They had one son, Charles Philip Gordon Clark (clergyman, later dry stone waller), and two daughters, Alexandra Mary Gordon Clark (Lady Wedgwood FSA
, architectural historian, see Wedgwood Baronets
) and Cecilia Mary Gordon Clark (Cecilia Snell, musician, married Roderick Snell
).
As a young man and during the early days of World War II
Gordon Clark toured as a judge's marshal, an experience he used in Tragedy at Law. Between 1942 and 1945 he worked at the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
. At the beginning of the war he served a short time at the Ministry of Economic Warfare, and the wartime civil service with many temporary members appears in With a Bare Bodkin. In 1950 he was appointed county court
judge in Surrey
. His best known novel is Tragedy at Law, in which he drew on his legal expertise and in which he introduced Francis Pettigrew, a not very successful barrister who in this and four other novels just happens to elucidate aspects of the crime. His professional detective (they appeared together in three novels, and only one has neither of them present) was a large and realistic police officer, Inspector Mallett, with a vast appetite. Among the more outstanding of Hare's literary contributions are his short stories, mostly written for the London Evening Standard.
Having suffered from tuberculosis
shortly after World War II
Hare was never again in full health and died at his home near Boxhill, Surrey
at the age of only 57.
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
of Alfred Alexander Gordon Clark (4 September 1900 – 25 August 1958) was an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
and crime writer.
Life and work
Hare was born in Mickleham, SurreyMickleham, Surrey
Mickleham is a village and civil parish between the towns of Dorking and Leatherhead in Surrey, England covering . The parish includes the hamlet of Fredley.-History:Mickleham lies near to the old Roman road known as Stane Street...
, the third son of Henry Herbert Gordon Clark of Mickleham
Mickleham
Mickleham may refer to:* Mickleham, Victoria, Australia* Mickleham, Surrey, England...
Hall, a merchant in the wine and spirit trade, Matthew Clark
Matthew Clark
Matthew Clark is a United Kingdom based drinks distributor, jointly owned by Constellation Brands Inc. and Punch Taverns Ltd.The company was formed in 1810 by Matthew Clark, the son of Charles Clark, Inspector General of Imported Liquors and Distillery at the Port of London and later Merchant...
& Sons being the family firm. The socialist politician Susan Lawrence
Susan Lawrence
Arabella Susan Lawrence was a British Labour Party politician, one of the first female Labour MPs.Lawrence was the youngest daughter of Nathaniel Lawrence, a wealthy solicitor, and Laura Bacon, daughter of Sir James Bacon, a bankruptcy judge and Vice-Chancellor. She was educated in London and at...
was his aunt. He was educated at St Aubyn's, Rottingdean and Rugby
Rugby School
Rugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...
. He read History at New College, Oxford
New College, Oxford
New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.- Overview :The College's official name, College of St Mary, is the same as that of the older Oriel College; hence, it has been referred to as the "New College of St Mary", and is now almost always...
(where he heard William Archibald Spooner
William Archibald Spooner
William Archibald Spooner was a famous Oxford don whose name is given to the linguistic phenomenon of spoonerism.-Biography:...
say in a sermon that 'now we see through a dark glassly') and graduated with a First. Then he studied law and was called to the Bar (Middle Temple
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
) in 1924.
Hare's pseudonym is a mixture of Hare Court, where he worked in the chambers of Roland Oliver, and Cyril Mansions, Battersea, where he lived after marrying Mary Barbara Lawrence (see Lawrence Baronets
Lawrence Baronets
There have been seven Baronetcies created for persons with the surname Lawrence, one in the Baronetage of England, one in the Baronetage of Great Britain and five in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom....
, Ealing Park) in 1933. They had one son, Charles Philip Gordon Clark (clergyman, later dry stone waller), and two daughters, Alexandra Mary Gordon Clark (Lady Wedgwood FSA
Society of Antiquaries of London
The Society of Antiquaries of London is a learned society "charged by its Royal Charter of 1751 with 'the encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries'." It is based at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London , and is...
, architectural historian, see Wedgwood Baronets
Wedgwood Baronets
The Wedgwood Baronetcy, of Etruria in the County of Stafford, is a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1942 for Ralph Wedgwood, chairman of the World War II Railway Executive Committee...
) and Cecilia Mary Gordon Clark (Cecilia Snell, musician, married Roderick Snell
Roderick Snell
Roderick Snell is a British electronics engineer, who co-founded Snell & Wilcox in 1973.Snell is a visiting professor at the Business School of the University of Kingston, Surrey, a fellow of the Royal Television Society, and a governor of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers .He...
).
As a young man and during the early days of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Gordon Clark toured as a judge's marshal, an experience he used in Tragedy at Law. Between 1942 and 1945 he worked at the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Director of Public Prosecutions
The Director of Public Prosecutions is the officer charged with the prosecution of criminal offences in several criminal jurisdictions around the world...
. At the beginning of the war he served a short time at the Ministry of Economic Warfare, and the wartime civil service with many temporary members appears in With a Bare Bodkin. In 1950 he was appointed county court
County Court
A county court is a court based in or with a jurisdiction covering one or more counties, which are administrative divisions within a country, not to be confused with the medieval system of county courts held by the High Sheriff of each county.-England and Wales:County Court matters can be lodged...
judge in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
. His best known novel is Tragedy at Law, in which he drew on his legal expertise and in which he introduced Francis Pettigrew, a not very successful barrister who in this and four other novels just happens to elucidate aspects of the crime. His professional detective (they appeared together in three novels, and only one has neither of them present) was a large and realistic police officer, Inspector Mallett, with a vast appetite. Among the more outstanding of Hare's literary contributions are his short stories, mostly written for the London Evening Standard.
Having suffered from tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
shortly after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Hare was never again in full health and died at his home near Boxhill, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
at the age of only 57.
Works
- Tenant for Death (19371937 in literatureThe year 1937 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*January 9 - The first issue of Look magazine goes on sale in the United States.*Thomas Quinn Curtiss meets Klaus Mann.-New books:*Eric Ambler - Uncommon Danger...
) - Death Is No Sportsman (19381938 in literatureThe year 1938 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* The trilogy, U.S.A. by John Dos Passos, is published containing his three novels The 42nd Parallel , 1919 , and The Big Money ....
) - Suicide Excepted (19391939 in literatureThe year 1939 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*December 25 - A Christmas Carol is read before a radio audience for the first time....
) - Tragedy at Law (19421942 in literatureThe year 1942 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*André Gide leaves France to live in Tunis.*Robertson Davies becomes editor of the Peterborough Examiner.*Thomas Mann emigrates to California....
) - With a Bare Bodkin (19461946 in literatureThe year 1946 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*November 7 - Walker Percy marries Mary Bernice Townsend.*Launch in the United Kingdom of Penguin Classics under the editorship of E. V...
) - The Magic Bottle, a children's book (19461946 in literatureThe year 1946 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*November 7 - Walker Percy marries Mary Bernice Townsend.*Launch in the United Kingdom of Penguin Classics under the editorship of E. V...
) - When the Wind Blows (US title The Wind Blows Death, 19491949 in literatureThe year 1949 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Arthur C. Clarke becomes Assistant Editor of Science Abstracts.*Bertrand Russell receives the Order of Merit....
) - An English Murder (19511951 in literatureThe year 1951 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*E. E. Cummings and Rachel Carson are awarded Guggenheim Fellowships.*Flannery O'Connor is diagnosed with lupus....
) - That Yew Tree's Shade (US title Death Walks the Woods, 19541954 in literatureThe year 1954 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Jack Kerouac reads Dwight Goddard's A Buddhist Bible, which will influence him greatly.*John Updike graduates from Harvard with a thesis on George Herbert....
) - The House of Warbeck, a play (1955)
- He Should Have Died Hereafter (US title and also title of some UK reprints Untimely Death, 19581958 in literatureThe year 1958 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*August 18 - Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel Lolita is published in United States.*First volume of The Civil War by Shelby Foote is published....
) - Best Detective Stories of Cyril Hare (US title Death among Friends, 1959, edited by Michael GilbertMichael GilbertMichael Francis Gilbert, CBE was a British writer of both fictional mysteries and thrillers who wrote as Michael Gilbert.-Life and work:...
)