Hornung

ERNEST WILLIAM HORNUNG (1866 - 1921)

The creator of the famous Raffles was born at Cleveland Villas, Marton near Middlesbrough. His father was a coal exporter and also served as Swedish, Norwegian and Danish vice consul. His premises were in Turton street. Young Hornung was sent to Uppingham public school, after which he joined the family business. He then spent two years in Australia (1884-86) for health reasons. That country forms the background for several of his later works; we recall that Raffles began his career of crime in Australia. Hornung then worked as a journalist in London and married Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's sister, Connie, in 1893. Doyle wrote of him: 'I like young Willie Hornung very much. He is one of the sweetest-natured and most delicate-minded men I ever knew'.

As if to show Sherlock Holmes on the wrong side of the law, Hornung invented the gentleman-thief A.J. Raffles, whose exploits are recounted by his faithful friend Bunny. Conan Doyle disapproved of casting a criminal in the role of hero, while Hornung, for his part, made flattering puns - 'though he might be more humble, there's no police like Holmes'. Hornung dedicated the first raffles book The Amateur Cracksman (1899) to Conan Doyle, and may even have borrowed his anti-hero's name from an obscure Doyle story 'The Doings of Raffles Haw'. The stories are exciting, atmospheric and above all, wonderfully unpredictable. Though there are occasional references to public school life and Australia, Hornung's Teesside childhood is not mentioned directly. However, among Raffle's accomplishments is a command of three Yorkshire dialects, and the North East reader will spot that among his victims are Lady Kirkleatham and Lord Thornaby.

Hornung was greatly saddened by the death of his only son at Ypres and in 1917 published two poems in The Times - 'Bond and Free' and 'Wooden Crosses' which aroused wide interest. He was in France when the great German offensive of 1918 began, and he wrote a vivid description of the bombardment of Arras in his last book Notes of a Camp Follower on the Western Front (1919). After the war, he retired with failing health to southern France, where he died of pneumonia.

A play based on Raffles ran for two years in London, and the character has been played on screen by Ronald Colman and David Niven, among others. George Orwell regarded both the Sherlock Holmes and Raffles stories as enjoyable examples of the 'good bad book', which would survive when more earnest authors had been forgotten. Orwell considered Hornung a very able writer on that level and one of his most celebrated essays is entitled 'Raffles and Miss Blandish'.

Myers Literary Guide:	The North-East
ERNEST WILLIAM HORNUNG (1866 - 1921) The creator of the famous Raffles was born at Cleveland Villas, Marton near Middlesbrough. His father was a coal exporter and also served as Swedish, Norwegian and Danish vice consul. His premises were in Turton street. Young Hornung was sent to Uppingham public school, after which he joined the family business. He then spent two years in Australia (1884-86) for health reasons. That country forms the background for several of his later works; we recall that Raffles began his career of crime in Australia. Hornung then worked as a journalist in London and married Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's sister, Connie, in 1893. Doyle wrote of him: 'I like young Willie Hornung very much. He is one of the sweetest-natured and most delicate-minded men I ever knew'. As if to show Sherlock Holmes on the wrong side of the law, Hornung invented the gentleman-thief A.J. Raffles, whose exploits are recounted by his faithful friend Bunny. Conan Doyle disapproved of casting a criminal in the role of hero, while Hornung, for his part, made flattering puns - 'though he might be more humble, there's no police like Holmes'. Hornung dedicated the first raffles book The Amateur Cracksman (1899) to Conan Doyle, and may even have borrowed his anti-hero's name from an obscure Doyle story 'The Doings of Raffles Haw'. The stories are exciting, atmospheric and above all, wonderfully unpredictable. Though there are occasional references to public school life and Australia, Hornung's Teesside childhood is not mentioned directly. However, among Raffle's accomplishments is a command of three Yorkshire dialects, and the North East reader will spot that among his victims are Lady Kirkleatham and Lord Thornaby. Hornung was greatly saddened by the death of his only son at Ypres and in 1917 published two poems in The Times - 'Bond and Free' and 'Wooden Crosses' which aroused wide interest. He was in France when the great German offensive of 1918 began, and he wrote a vivid description of the bombardment of Arras in his last book Notes of a Camp Follower on the Western Front (1919). After the war, he retired with failing health to southern France, where he died of pneumonia. A play based on Raffles ran for two years in London, and the character has been played on screen by Ronald Colman and David Niven, among others. George Orwell regarded both the Sherlock Holmes and Raffles stories as enjoyable examples of the 'good bad book', which would survive when more earnest authors had been forgotten. Orwell considered Hornung a very able writer on that level and one of his most celebrated essays is entitled 'Raffles and Miss Blandish'.
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