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George Hamilton Teed (9 December 1886 – 24 December 1938) was a Canadian author who also wrote under the pen-names G. H. Teed, Hamilton Teed, Peter Kingsland, and Desmond Reid. Teed was born in Woodstock, New Brunswick. He specialized in adventure fiction and detective stories starring Sexton Blake, but also wrote a few science fiction tales and several stories starring detectives Nelson Lee and Dixon Hawke. He penned over 400 tales and is considered to be one of the best Sexton Blake authors of all time.[1] He created the longest list and the most varied gallery of characters in the Blake canon,[2] his most unique contribution perhaps being the many strong female adversaries he pitted against Blake.

George Hamilton Teed
Born(1886-12-09)9 December 1886
Woodstock, New Brunswick, Canada
Died24 December 1938(1938-12-24) (aged 52)
London, England
Pen nameG.H. Teed, Peter Kingsland, Desmond Reid
OccupationWriter
Period1910 – 1938
GenreAdventure fiction

Life and work


George Heber Hamilton Teed was one of three children. His father, Almon Isiah Teed, was a merchant who owned saw-mills, a fleet of boats, and a coffee plantation in South America. Hamilton was educated at McGill University in Montreal at that time one of Canada's most exclusive schools. After graduation he set off to explore the world. He circumnavigated the globe twice, and tried his hand at various jobs including overseeing a banana plantation in Costa Rica, and sheep-farming in Australia.[3]

Legend has it that while travelling by ship to England from Australia in early 1912, Teed met Mrs. Margaret Sempill the widow of Ernest Sempill, a talented and popular Sexton Blake author who wrote under the name Michael Storm for The Union Jack and other publications owned by the Amalgamated Press. Sempill had died in Australia and left notes for a few uncompleted manuscripts. Teed convinced Mrs. Sempill to let him finish the works and submit them under her husband's name.[4] Over the summer of 1912 the partnership, with Teed at the typewriter and Mrs. Storm making the sales, produced four tales that were sold to Boys' Friend: Sexton Blake’s Double (unpublished), ’Twixt Fire and Redskin (Published 16 November 1912), and The Kidnapped Ambassador (Published 30 November 1912).[5]

In 1912 Teed published the first tale in the Union Jack, Dead Man's Shoes. In all, the partnership sold 17 stories to Union Jack but came to an end when Mrs. Sempill and Teed fell out, possibly over money. In October of that year Teed went to the offices of the Amalgamated Press to disclose that he was the author behind the stories recently sold to them by Mrs. Storm. Though sceptical, editor W. H. Back sat him down at a typewriter in the office, saying: "Write me two chapters of a Blake yarn." Teed did so and in such style that his credentials were no longer in question. [6] From that point on, Teed became a regular contributor of the Union Jack and other Amalgamated Press publications.

The 'Teed era' truly began in 1913 with the creation of three of his most legendary characters: Yvonne Cartier, a female criminal mastermind who sets out to avenge her family in an 8-part epic tale, Dr. Huxton Rymer a world renowned surgeon who turns to a life of crime and Prince Wu Ling, a member of the Chinese imperial family bent on world domination.

For fans, 1913 was the start of the Sexton Blake golden era and Teed played no small part in it. He wrote the Easter, Summer and Christmas double issues that year. The Sacred Sphere the 1913, Christmas double issue, includes all three legendary characters he created that year: Yvonne Cartier, Dr. Huxton Rymer and Prince Wu Ling. It is considered one of the best Sexton Blake tales of all time. He would continue to write many of the double issues in the following years. In 1915 he also began writing stories for The Nelson Lee Library a popular story paper that featured Nelson Lee, another popular detective. Like he had done for Blake, Teed created a female adversary for Lee: Mademoiselle Miton, The Black Wolf, a skilled thief whose tales stretched over 17 episodes. In 1915 he was asked to write the debut story for The Sexton Blake Library.

With the outbreak of World War I Teed joined the King Edward's Horse, a Canadian troop, and served in France. Later he was stationed in Dublin, where he became very ill with pneumonia. Invalided out of the service he took a post in Southern India. Later as branch manager of an export firm he met his future wife, Inez Annie Dunning, at a fancy dress ball. They were married in 1920, and moved back to London in 1921.[7] He resumed his writing career and began publishing Sexton Blake Stories in 1922. That year he was commissioned to write the milestone 1000th issue of the Union Jack, The Thousandth Chance, a tale that combined many of the major character set in the Sexton Blake Universe. In the following year he became only the third author to have written over 100 Blake stories, after William Murray Graydon and Andrew Murray.[8]

In 1932, Teed made his debut in the Dixon Hawke Library, introducing fans to villainess Nicolette Lazare, the Black Angel in issue #327. He wrote five stories featuring her between 1932 and 1935.[9]

Teed continued writing throughout the 1930s, writing for The Sexton Blake Library, Union Jack, Detective Weekly, The Thriller, The Ranger and Modern Wonder. He also published several novels including Murder Ship (1935) Five in Fear(1936) and Voodoo Island (1939).

Several of Teed's works were adapted for the silver screen. The Clue of the Wax Vesta released in 1914 told the tale of Yvonne's Cartier attempt to avenge her family. The Clue of the Second Goblet released in 1928 was based on a story of the same name. In 1935 his story They Shall Repay was adapted into the feature film Sexton Blake and the Mademoiselle starring George Curzon.

In the late 1930s Hamilton developed a serious bronchial illness. He died of heart failure in London Hospital in Whitechapel on Christmas Eve, 1938.


Influence and legacy


Teed created the longest list and the most varied gallery of characters in the Blake canon. Among these were a fabulous list of strong female adversaries: Yvonne Cartier, Marie-Galante, June Severance, and Roxane Harfield to name but a few. Teed also created some of Blake's most enduring supporting male villains: Dr. Huxton Rymer, Prince Menes, Prince Wu Ling, and continued Blake's conflict with George Marsden Plummer.

Unlike many of his Union Jack contemporaries, Teed's writing was not concerned with the nuts and bolts of detection. "His strength" writes Steve Holland, in G.H.Teed (1886-1938). A Life of Adventure, "was his ability to create an atmosphere. He was an adventure writer, creating thrillers set in exotic locations, and often Blake was subservient to the atmosphere, although it can never be said that the stories became purely travelogues. His contribution to Blake was to give him the world to play in: South America, China, Haiti, Russia, Paris, the Middle East, Australia, although he also used London and its environs in some stories."[10]


Biography and New Collections



Selected Bibliography


1912

Sexton Blake Stories 1912

1913

1914

1915

1916

1917

1922

1923

1924

1925

1926

1927

1928

1929

1930

1931

1932

1933

1934

1940

Nelson Lee Stories

1915

1916

1917

1920

Young Yvonne Cartier Stories

1914

1915

Huxton Rymer

1916

Other


References


  1. Holland, Steve. G.H. Teed: A Life of Adventure. Norman Wright: Oxford, 2001.
  2. Bond H.M Featuring Sexton Blake and... The Story Paper Collector, No. 25, Vol. 1, Christmas 1945,
  3. I Meet Mrs. Teed, W. O. G. Lofts, Collectors' Digest, Vol.22 Issue 258, June 1968
  4. I Meet Mrs. Teed, W. O. G. Lofts, Collectors' Digest, Vol.22 Issue 258, June 1968
  5. Holland, Steve. G.H. Teed: A Life of Adventure. Norman Wright: Oxford, 2001.
  6. Holland, Steve. G.H. Teed: A Life of Adventure. Norman Wright: Oxford, 2001.
  7. I Meet Mrs. Teed, W. O. G. Lofts, Collectors' Digest, Vol.22 Issue 258, June 1968
  8. Holland, Steve. G.H. Teed: A Life of Adventure. Norman Wright: Oxford, 2001.
  9. Holland, Steve. G.H. Teed: A Life of Adventure. Norman Wright: Oxford, 2001.
  10. Holland, Steve. G.H. Teed: A Life of Adventure. Norman Wright: Oxford, 2001.





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