Herbert John Allingham (1867–10 January 1936) was an English editor, journalist, serial

pulp fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American independent crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino from a story he conceived with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; It tells four intertwining tales of crime and violence ...

writer, husband of writer Emmie Allingham and father of crime novelist

Margery Allingham Margery Louise Allingham (20 May 1904 – 30 June 1966) was an English novelist from the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", and considered one of its four " Queens of Crime", alongside Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers and Ngaio Marsh. All ...

Early life

Herbert John Allingham was born in Kennington, South London in 1867, the second of eight sons of James William Allingham (then a printer) and his wife, Louisa. When aged 15 he went to

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

as a non-collegiate student, graduating as BA in 1889.Herbert Allingham biography
golden-duck.co.uk website; accessed 2013-09-16.

Editor

In 1874, Allingham's grandfather died. His father used the legacy to found ''The Christian Globe'', a

non-denominational A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination. The term has been used in the context of various faiths, including Jainism, Baháʼí Faith, Zoro ...

penny weekly mainly funded by

patent medicine A patent medicine (sometimes called a proprietary medicine) is a non-prescription medicine or medicinal preparation that is typically protected and advertised by a trademark and trade name, and claimed to be effective against minor disorders a ...

advertising. Allingham edited ''The Christian Globe'' for his father. In 1889 he became editor of ''

The London Journal ''The London Journal; and Weekly Record of Literature, Science and Art'' (published from 1845 to 1928) was a British penny fiction weekly, one of the best-selling magazines of the nineteenth century. It was established by George Stiff, publish ...

''. Later he left journalism to become a freelance

writer for both children and adults.Profile of Henry Allingham
margeryallingham.org.uk; accessed 29 November 2014.

Writing career

In 1886, Allingham's uncle, John Allingham (better known as Ralph Rollington), launched ''The New Boys' Paper'' penny weekly, in which Herbert published "Barrington's Fag", a "true tale of school life", initially under the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

Herbert St Clair. In 1889, Herbert Allingham was named editor of ''

'', publishing his own story "A Devil of a Woman" in 1893. In 1906, Herbert Allingham was recognised by

Amalgamated Press The Amalgamated Press (AP) was a British newspaper and magazine publishing company founded by journalist and entrepreneur Alfred Harmsworth (1865–1922) in 1901, gathering his many publishing ventures together under one banner. At one point the ...

and began writing stories for '' Puck'', ''The Jester'', ''

Comic Cuts ''Comic Cuts'' was a British comic magazine. It was published from 1890 to 1953, and was created by Alfred Harmsworth. In its early days, it inspired other publishers to produce rival comic magazines. ''Comic Cuts'' held the record for the mos ...

'', ''

Chips ''CHiPs'' is an American crime drama television series created by Rick Rosner and originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. After the final first-run telecast on NBC in May 1983, the series went into reruns on Sundays fr ...

'' and ''The Butterfly''. By 1909, readers' enjoyment of Allingham's contrasting serials ''Plucky Polly Perkins'' and ''Driven from Home'' sent ''The Butterfly'''s sales figures soaring. This allowed him to resign from ''

'' (which ceased publication soon afterward) and move his family out of London to The Old Rectory in

Layer Breton Layer Breton is a village and a civil parish in the City of Colchester district of Essex, England. According to the 2011 census there were 144 males and 143 females. Layer Breton is part of the Layer parishes with Layer de la Haye being the nei ...

. From this time until the mid-years of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he was hugely productive. His regular editor was

Frederick George Cordwell Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Given name Nobility = Anhalt-Harzgerode = *Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) = Austria = * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from ...

, a major influence in the development of British comic papers. Whenever Cordwell established a new title, he used Allingham (anonymously) as the lead writer and main attraction. Readers could enjoy Allingham's fiction on at least four days of every week. In 1916, Cordwell joined up, paper was rationed and casualties reduced readership of the comics. Allingham found work at '' Woman's Weekly'' often under pseudonyms. In 1918, financial hardship forced Allingham to lease thirteen of his most successful titles which were then anonymously syndicated across D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd regional papers. In 1919, Cordwell returned to Amalgamated Press and founded a new comic with Allingham once again as lead author. In 1920 many of his stories were reprinted in film-themed magazines. In 1926 Amalgamated Press was sold, Allingham's rates of pay were slashed and his work on the comics dried up as tastes changed. The hard times of the early 1930s unexpectedly reversed Allingham's personal circumstances. He became the lead fiction writer on two big-selling Amalgamated Press publications, ''The Family Journal'' and ''The Home Companion''. Many of his pre-war serials were hastily revised and re-issued and the editor (Anne St John Cooper) took as much new work as he was able to produce. Anonymity disguised the fact that Allingham's stories were running without a break, sometimes two or three at a time, for the next six years. In 1932, he was able to buy a small house at

Thorpe Bay Thorpe Bay is an area of the city of Southend-on-Sea, in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. located on the Thames Estuary. Thorpe Bay is situated within the Thorpe ward of Southend-on-Sea. It is around 4 mi ...

in Essex. In 1935, he fell ill and retired, living off borrowings against reprint rights. When he died in 1936, his stories ran on into the autumn of 1937 when his debt had been fully repaid. Then they stopped.

Personal life

In 1902 Allingham married his

first cousin A cousin is a relative who is the child of a parent's sibling; this is more specifically referred to as a first cousin. A parent of a first cousin is an aunt or uncle. More generally, in the lineal kinship, kinship system used in the English-s ...

, Emily Jane Hughes, who also wrote (as Emmie Allingham). Their daughter,

Margery __NOTOC__ Margery is a heavily buffered, lightly populated hamlet in the Reigate and Banstead district in the English county of Surrey. It sits on the North Downs, is bordered by the London Orbital Motorway, at a lower altitude, and its predomi ...

(1904–1966) was a noted writer.

Bibliography

Source: * (as Herbert St Clair) "Barrington's Fag: A true tale of school life", ''The New Boys’ Paper'', 1886 * "A Devil of a Woman", ''

'', 1893 * (as David Pitt) Boys' adventure serials for ''True Blue'' * "Plucky Polly Perkins" and "Driven from Home", ''The Butterfly'', 1909 * Commissions for women's magazines ''The Happy Home'' and ''

My Weekly ''My Weekly'' is a magazine for women. Published by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd of Dundee, Scotland. It tends to consist of short stories, reader contributions, knitting or sewing patterns, and celebrity gossip. There are no real life horror stories ...

'', 1914 * Commissions for '' Woman's Weekly'' 1916 * ''The Call of the Road'', 1921

Early life

Editor

Writing career

Personal life

Bibliography

References

Further reading