Josephine Tey was a

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

used by Elizabeth MacKintosh (25 July 1896 – 13 February 1952), a Scottish author. Her novel '' The Daughter of Time'' was a detective work investigating the role of

Richard III of England Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the B ...

in the death of the

Princes in the Tower The Princes in the Tower refers to the apparent murder in England in the 1480s of the deposed King Edward V of England and Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York. These two brothers were the only sons of King Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville s ...

, and named as the greatest crime novel of all time by the Crime Writers' Association. Her first play ''

Richard of Bordeaux ''Richard of Bordeaux'' (1932) is a play by "Gordon Daviot", a pseudonym for Elizabeth MacKintosh, best known by another of her pen names, Josephine Tey. The play tells the story of Richard II of England in a romantic fashion, emphasizing the r ...

'', written under another pseudonym, Gordon Daviot, starred

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Briti ...

in its successful West End run.

Life and work

MacKintosh was born in

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histo ...

, the oldest of three daughters of Colin MacKintosh, a fruiterer, and Josephine (''née'' Horne). She attended

Inverness Royal Academy Inverness Royal Academy is a comprehensive secondary school in the city of Inverness in the Highland area of Scotland. A former grammar school with a history dating back to the 13th century, the Academy became a comprehensive in the mid-1970s. ...

and then, in 1914, Anstey Physical Training College in Erdington, a suburb of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

. She taught physical training at various schools in England and Scotland and during her vacations worked at a convalescent home in Inverness as a

Voluntary Aid Detachment The Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) was a voluntary unit of civilians providing nursing care for military personnel in the United Kingdom and various other countries in the British Empire. The most important periods of operation for these units we ...

nurse. A youthful romance ended with her soldier friend's death in the

Somme __NOTOC__ Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places *Somme (department), a department of France *Somme, Queensland, Australia *Canal de la Somme, a canal in France *Somme (river), a river in France Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Somme'' (book), a ...

battles. In 1923, she returned to Inverness permanently to care for her invalid mother, and stayed after her mother's death that year to keep house for her father. The curriculum for "physical training" included much more than athletics. Tey used her school experience in ''Miss Pym Disposes'' when describing the subjects taught at the school, and the types of bruises and other injuries sustained by the pupils. When she graduated, Tey worked in a physiotherapy clinic in

Leeds Leeds () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the thi ...

, then taught in schools, first in

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

, then in

Oban Oban ( ; ' in Scottish Gaelic meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William. During the tourist season, t ...

, where she was injured when a boom in the gymnasium fell on her face. Tey repurposed this incident as a method of murder in ''Miss Pym Disposes''. While caring for her father she began her career as a writer.Butler, Pamela J
"The Mystery of Josephine Tey"
, Richard III Society, American Branch Her first published work was in '' The Westminster Gazette'' in 1925, under the name Gordon Daviot. She continued publishing verse and short stories in ''

The Westminster Review The ''Westminster Review'' was a quarterly British publication. Established in 1823 as the official organ of the Philosophical Radicals, it was published from 1824 to 1914. James Mill was one of the driving forces behind the liberal journal unti ...

'', '' The Glasgow Herald'' and the ''Literary Review''. Her first novel, ''Kif: An Unvarnished History'', was well received at the time with good reviews, a sale to America, and a mention in ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper Sunday editions, published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group, Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. ...

''s list of Books of the Week. This work, inspired by a detachment of the 4th Cameron Highlanders, a Scottish

Territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...

battalion stationed at Inverness before the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

and prominent in the city's affairs, was an early indication of Tey's lasting interest in military matters. Three months later, her first mystery novel, '' The Man in the Queue'', was published by Benn, Methuen. It was awarded the Dutton Mystery Prize when published in America. This is the first appearance of her detective, Inspector Alan Grant. It would be some years before she wrote another mystery. MacKintosh's real ambition had been to write a play which would receive a run in London's

West End West End most commonly refers to: * West End of London, an area of central London, England * West End theatre, a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London, England West End may also refer to: Pl ...

. Her play ''

'' was produced in 1932 at the

Arts Theatre The Arts Theatre is a theatre in Great Newport Street, in Westminster, Central London. History It opened on 20 April 1927 as a members-only club for the performance of unlicensed plays, thus avoiding theatre censorship by the Lord Chamber ...

, under the Daviot pseudonym. Its success was such that it transferred to the New Theatre (now the

Noël Coward Theatre The Noël Coward Theatre, formerly known as the Albery Theatre, is a West End theatre in St. Martin's Lane in the City of Westminster, London. It opened on 12 March 1903 as the New Theatre and was built by Sir Charles Wyndham behind Wyndham's ...

) in 1933, for a year-long run. The production made a household name of its young leading man and director,

(who became MacKintosh's life-long friend). (Tey writes of Inspector Alan Grant that "he had in his youth seen ''Richard of Bordeaux''; four times he had seen it".) She stated she was inspired by Gielgud's performance in ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depi ...

'' and by the Royal Tournament. Two more of her plays were produced at the New Theatre, ''The Laughing Woman'' (1934) and ''Queen of Scots'' (1934, written in collaboration with Gielgud). She wrote about a dozen one-act plays and another dozen full-length plays, many with biblical or historical themes, under the name of Gordon Daviot but none of these received notable success. How she chose the name of Gordon is unknown, but Daviot was the name of a scenic locale near Inverness where she had spent many happy holidays with her family. Only four of her plays were produced during her lifetime. Her only non-fiction book, ''Claverhouse'', was written as a vindication of

John Graham, 1st Viscount Dundee John Graham, 7th of Claverhouse, 1st Viscount Dundee (21 July 1648 – 27 July 1689) was a Scottish soldier and nobleman, a Tory and an Episcopalian. He was responsible for policing southwest Scotland during and after the religious unrest and ...

, whom she regarded as a libeled hero: "It is strange that a man whose life was so simple in pattern and so forthright in spirit should have become a peg for every legend, bloody or brave, that belonged to his time." MacKintosh's best-known books were written under the name of Josephine Tey, which was the name of her Suffolk great-great grandmother. In five of the mystery novels, all of which except the first she wrote under the name of Tey, the hero is Scotland Yard Inspector Alan Grant. (Grant appears in a sixth, '' The Franchise Affair'', as a minor character.) The best known of these is '' The Daughter of Time'', in which Grant, laid up in hospital, has friends research reference books and contemporary documents so that he can puzzle out the mystery of whether King Richard III of England murdered his nephews, the

. Grant comes to the firm conclusion that King Richard was totally innocent of the death of the princes. ''The Franchise Affair'' also has an historical context: although set in the 1940s, it is based on the 18th-century case of Elizabeth Canning. ''The Daughter of Time'' was the last of Tey's books published during her lifetime. Her last work, a further crime novel, ''The Singing Sands'', was found in her papers and published posthumously.

Death

Tey was intensely private, shunning all publicity throughout her life. During her last year, when she knew that she was terminally ill, she resolutely avoided all her friends as well. Her penultimate work, ''The Privateer'' (1952), was a romantic novel based on the life of the privateer

Henry Morgan Sir Henry Morgan ( cy, Harri Morgan; – 25 August 1688) was a privateer, plantation owner, and, later, Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica. From his base in Port Royal, Jamaica, he raided settlements and shipping on the Spanish Main, becoming ...

. She died of

liver cancer Liver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to th ...

at her sister Mary's home in London on 13 February 1952. Most of her friends, including Gielgud, were unaware that she was even ill. Her obituary in ''The Times'' appeared under her real name: "Miss E. Mackintosh Author of 'Richard of Bordeaux'". Proceeds from Tey's estate, including royalties from her books, were assigned to the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

Appearances and adaptations in other works

* The heroine of Mary Stewart's ''

The Ivy Tree ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' (1961) uses Tey's book ''

Brat Farrar ''Brat Farrar'' is a 1949 crime novel by Josephine Tey, based in part on The Tichborne Claimant. Plot The story is about the Ashbys, an English country-squire family. Their centuries-old family estate is Latchetts, in the fictional village of ...

'' as a model when impersonating the missing heir to an estate. She describes the book as "the best of them all". * '' Paranoiac'' is a 1963 British feature film based on ''Brat Farrar''. * ''The Daughter of Time'' influenced later mystery writers, notably Barbara Mertz. Mertz, writing as Elizabeth Peters, refers explicitly to Tey in ''The Murders of Richard III'' (1974) which sets a

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhouse (Great Britain), town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the cit ...

murder mystery among a group who believe that Richard III was innocent. * In 1989

Colin Dexter Norman Colin Dexter (29 September 1930 – 21 March 2017) was an English crime writer known for his '' Inspector Morse'' series of novels, which were written between 1975 and 1999 and adapted as an ITV television series, '' Inspector Morse'', ...

reprised the hospital-bound detective motif of ''Daughter of Time'' in his Inspector Morse novel '' The Wench is Dead'', which was also made into an episode in the '' Morse'' television series. * Tey appears as a main character in a series of novels by Nicola Upson called the "Josephine Tey Mysteries". '' An Expert in Murder'' (2008), the first in the series, is a detective story woven around the original production of ''Richard of Bordeaux''. * Tey's ''

'' is mentioned extensively as a work vividly remembered and imagined by the narrator in the first section of Gerald Murnane's 2009 novel ''Barley Patch''. * Mary Miley's ''The Impersonator'' (2013) has a plot very similar to that of ''

,'' with the story transferred to 1920s America.

Reception and legacy

In 1990, ''The Daughter of Time'' was selected by the British Crime Writers' Association as the greatest crime novel of all time; ''The Franchise Affair'' was 11th on the same list of 100 books. In 2015, Val McDermid argued that Tey "cracked open the door" for later writers such as

Patricia Highsmith Patricia Highsmith (January 19, 1921 – February 4, 1995) was an American novelist and short story writer widely known for her psychological thrillers, including her series of five novels featuring the character Tom Ripley. She wrote 22 nov ...

and

Ruth Rendell Ruth Barbara Rendell, Baroness Rendell of Babergh, (; 17 February 1930 – 2 May 2015) was an English author of thrillers and psychological murder mysteries. Rendell is best known for creating Chief Inspector Wexford.The Oxford Companion ...

to explore the darker side of humanity, creating a bridge between the

Golden Age of Detective Fiction The Golden Age of Detective Fiction was an era of classic murder mystery novels of similar patterns and styles, predominantly in the 1920s and 1930s. The Golden Age proper is, in practice, usually taken to refer to a type of fiction which was pred ...

and contemporary crime novels, because "Tey opened up the possibility of unconventional secrets. Homosexual desire, cross-dressing, sexual perversion – they were all hinted at, glimpsed in the shadows as a door closed or a curtain twitched. Tey was never vulgar nor titillating.... Nevertheless, her world revealed a different set of psychological motivations." In 2019, Evie Jeffrey discussed Tey's engagement with capital punishment debates in ''

A Shilling for Candles ''A Shilling for Candles'' is a 1936 mystery novel by Josephine Tey (Elizabeth MacKintosh) about the investigation of the drowning of a film actress, known as Christine Clay. It is the second of Tey's five mysteries featuring Inspector Alan Grant ...

'' and ''To Love and Be Wise''.

Publications

Novels

Inspector Alan Grant novels

All as Josephine Tey except where specified # '' The Man in the Queue'' (also published as ''Killer in the Crowd'') (1929) s Gordon Daviot Serialised, ''

Dundee Evening Telegraph The ''Evening Telegraph'' is a local newspaper in Dundee, Scotland. Known locally as the ''Tele'' (usually pronounced ''Tully or Tilly''), it is the sister paper of '' The Courier'', also published by Dundee firm D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. It wa ...

'', 12 August to 24 September 1930. # ''

'' (1936)"About the Author" in Tey, Josephine, ''The Daughter of Time''.

Touchstone Touchstone may refer to: * Touchstone (assaying tool), a stone used to identify precious metals * Touchstone (metaphor), a means of assaying relative merits of a concept Entertainment * ''Touchstone'' (album), a 1982 album by Chick Corea * T ...

, 1995, pp. 207. (the basis of Hitchcock's 1937 film '' Young and Innocent'') # '' The Franchise Affair'' (1948) nspector Grant appears briefly at the beginning, mentioned a few times( filmed in 1950 starring

Michael Denison John Michael Terence Wellesley Denison (1 November 191522 July 1998) was an English actor. He often appeared with his wife, Dulcie Gray, with whom he featured in several films and more than 100 West End theatre productions. After a conventio ...

and Dulcie Gray) # ''To Love and Be Wise'' (1950) # '' The Daughter of Time'' (1951) (voted greatest crime novel of all time by the British Crime Writers' Association in 1990) # ''The Singing Sands'' (1952) (turns on the discovery of the lost city of Wabar, based on the legend of Iram of the Pillars)

Stand-alone mysteries

All as Josephine Tey. These novels are set in the same fictional 20th-century Britain as the Inspector Grant novels. * ''Miss Pym Disposes'' (1946) * ''

'' (or ''Come and Kill Me'') (1949) (the basis, without on-screen credit, for the 1963

Hammer A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as ...

production '' Paranoiac'')

Other novels

All as Gordon Daviot * ''Kif: An Unvarnished History'' (1929) - story of a boy who cares for horses and goes through WW1. * ''The Expensive Halo: A Fable without Moral'' (1931) - about two pairs of brothers and sisters, one aristocratic, the other working class. * ''The Privateer'' (1952) - a fictionalized reconstruction of the life of the privateer Henry Morgan.

Biography

* ''Claverhouse'' (1937) s Gordon Daviot(a life of the 17th-century cavalry leader John Graham of Claverhouse, 1st Viscount Dundee)

Stage plays

All as Gordon Daviot except where specified * ''

'' (First performed, Arts Theatre Club, London, 1932) * ''The Laughing Woman '' (New Theatre, London, 1934) * ''Queen of Scots'' (New Theatre, Aberdeen, 1934) * ''The Stars Bow Down'' (Published, 1939; first performed, Chatham House School, 1949) * ''Kirk o'Field'' (First performed, Theatre Royal, Glasgow, 1940) * ''Cornelia'' (First performed, Glasgow Citizens' Theatre, 1946)

s F. Craigie Howe S, or s, is the nineteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ess'' (pronounced ), plural ''esses''. Histor ...

Revived, 1963, as by Gordon Daviot * ''The Little Dry Thorn'' (First performed, Glasgow Citizens' Theatre, 1946) * ''Leith Sands'' (Published, 1946: No stage performance yet traced) * ''Rahab'' (Published, 1946. First performed, Scottish Community Drama Association, 1947) * ''The Mother of Masé'' (Published, 1946: No stage performance yet traced) * ''Sara'' (Published, 1946: No stage performance yet traced) * ''Mrs Fry has a Visitor'' (Published, 1946: No stage performance yet traced) * ''Three Mrs Madderleys'' (Published, 1946: No stage performance yet traced) * ''Clarion Call'' (Published, 1946. First performed, Rugeley Town Hall, 31 July 1947) * ''Remember Cæsar'' (Published, 1946: No stage performance yet traced) * ''Valerius'' (First performed, Saville Theatre, London, 1948) * ''Barnharrow'' (First performed, Stirling Dramatic Club, 1949, One-act) * ''The Balwhinnie Bomb'' (1949) * ''Dickon'' (First performed, Salisbury Playhouse, 1955) - a sympathetic portrayal of Richard III

Radio plays

All as Gordon Daviot * ''The Laughing Woman'' (Short version). BBC Home Service, 1 December 1940 * ''Leith Sands''. BBC Home Service, 13 December 1941 * ''Queen of Scots'' (Adapted by the author). BBC Home Service, 6 December 1942 * ''The Three Mrs Madderleys''. BBC Home Service, 14 June 1944 * ''Mrs Fry Has a Visitor''. BBC Home Service, 6 December 1944 * ''Three Women''. (Three playlets). BBC Home Service, 10 June 1945 * ''Remember Caesar''. BBC Home Service, 4 January 1946 * ''The Stars Bow Down''. BBC Home Service, 13 November 1948 * ''The Pen of My Aunt''. BBC Home Service, 15 February 1950 * ''The Pomp of Mrs Pomfret''. BBC Home Service, 23 October 1954

Television plays

All as Gordon Daviot * ''Sweet Coz.''. BBC Television, 4 January 1955 * ''Lady Charing Is Cross''. BBC Television, 8 January 1955 * ''The Staff Room''. BBC Television, 1 May 1956 * ''Barnharrow''. BBC Television, 1 May 1956

Short stories

All as Gordon Daviot * ''Pat at Seven''. Westminster Gazette, 24 July 1926 * ''Janet''. Westminster Gazette, 2 October 1926 * ''Atalanta''. Westminster Gazette, 9 March 1927 * ''Pat Wears His Second Best Kilt''. Westminster Gazette, 17 December 1927

Poems

All as Gordon Daviot * ''A Song of Racing''. Westminster Gazette, 16 April 1927 * ''Exile''. Westminster Gazette, 7 May 1927 * ''Deadlock''. Westminster Gazette, 21 May 1927 * ''A Song of Stations''. Westminster Gazette, 4 June 1927 * ''Roads''. Westminster Gazette, 20 August 1927 * ''In Memoriam HPFM''. Westminster Gazette, 10 September 1927 * ''Dyspepsia''. Westminster Gazette, 15 October 1927 * ''Reasons''. Westminster Gazette, 24 December 1927 * ''When I Am Old''. Westminster Gazette, 7 January 1928

Short non-fiction

All as Gordon Daviot * ''Tossing the Caber''. Westminster Gazette, 10 September 1927

Radio and television dramatisations

* ''The Man in the Queue'': broadcast in 1955, adapted by H.B. Fortuin * ''A Shilling For Candles'': broadcast in 1954, 1963 and 1969, adapted by Rex Rienits; in 1998, adapted by John Fletcher * ''Miss Pym Disposes'': broadcast in 1952, adapted by Jonquil Antony; and 1987, adapted by Elizabeth Proud * ''The Franchise Affair'': broadcast in 1952, 1970 and 2005 * ''The Franchise Affair'': televised in 1958 (Robert Hall), serials 1962 (Constance Cox) and 1988 (James Andrew Hall) * ''Brat Farrar'': broadcast in 1954, 1959 and 1980 (all adapted by Cyril Wentzel) * ''Brat Farrar'': televised in 1986, adapted by James Andrew Hall * ''The Daughter of Time'': broadcast in 1952 (scriptwriter not credited) and 1982 (Neville Teller) * ''The Singing Sands'': broadcast in 1956 (Bertram Parnaby); televised in 1969 (

James MacTaggart James MacTaggart (25 April 1928 – 29 May 1974) was a Scottish television producer, director and writer. He worked in London from 1961. Early life MacTaggart was born in Glasgow and served in the Royal Army Service Corps from 1946, rising to ...

)

References

External links

* * * Author Dana Stabenow's homage to Josephine Tey's ''The Daughter of Time'' �
How My Mother and Josephine Tey Led Me into a Life of Crime
*
Photo of Tey

Josephine Tey – A Very Private Person

"The Elusive Miss MacKintosh"
— review in '' Quadrant'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Tey, Josephine 1896 births 1952 deaths People educated at Inverness Royal Academy People from Inverness Scottish biographers Scottish crime fiction writers Scottish dramatists and playwrights Scottish mystery writers Women mystery writers Scottish women novelists Scottish women dramatists and playwrights Scottish novelists 20th-century British women writers 20th-century biographers 20th-century Scottish novelists Pseudonymous women writers 20th-century Scottish dramatists and playwrights Women biographers Deaths from liver cancer 20th-century Scottish women 20th-century pseudonymous writers