Alfred Walter Stewart (5 September 1880 – 1 July 1947) was a British chemist and part-time novelist who wrote seventeen

detective novels Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an criminal investigation, investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around ...

and a pioneering

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

work between 1923 and 1947 under the pseudonym of JJ Connington. He created several fictional detectives, including Superintendent Ross and Chief Constable Sir Clinton Driffield.

Biography

Born in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

in 1880, Stewart was the youngest of three sons of the Reverend Dr. Stewart, Clerk to the University Senate and Professor of Divinity. After attending Glasgow High School he entered

Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...

, graduating 1902, taking chemistry as his major. His outstanding performance earned him the Mackay-Smith scholarship. After spending a year in

Marburg Marburg (; ) is a college town, university town in the States of Germany, German federal state () of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf Districts of Germany, district (). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has ...

engaging in research under

Theodor Zincke Ernst Carl Theodor Zincke (19 May 1843 – 17 March 1928) was a German chemist and the academic adviser of Otto Hahn. Life Theodor Zincke was born in Uelzen on 19 May 1843. He became a pharmacist and graduated in Göttingen with his Staatsexamen ...

, he was elected to an 1851 Exhibition Scholarship and then in 1903 entered

University College, London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. Here he began independent research. His work, which formed part of his

thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...

, gained him a

DSc DSC or Dsc may refer to: Education * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dyal Sin ...

degree from Glasgow University in 1907 and he was soon elected to a Carnegie Research Fellowship (1905–1908). He decided to pursue an academic career and in 1908 wrote ''Recent Advances in Organic Chemistry'' which proved to be a popular textbook whose success encouraged him to write a companion volume on Inorganic and Physical Chemistry in 1909. In 1909 Stewart was appointed to a lectureship in organic chemistry at

Queen's University, Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

and in 1914 was appointed Lecturer in Physical Chemistry and Radioactivity at the University of Glasgow. During

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 worked for the Admiralty. In 1918 he drew attention to the result of a

beta particle A beta particle, also called beta ray or beta radiation (symbol β), is a high-energy, high-speed electron or positron emitted by the radioactive decay of an atomic nucleus, known as beta decay. There are two forms of beta decay, β− decay and � ...

change in a radioactive element and suggested the term ''isobar'' as complementary to ''

isotope Isotopes are distinct nuclear species (or ''nuclides'') of the same chemical element. They have the same atomic number (number of protons in their Atomic nucleus, nuclei) and position in the periodic table (and hence belong to the same chemica ...

''. He retired from his academic work in 1944 following recurrent heart problems. Stewart is now chiefly remembered for his first novel, ''Nordenholt's Million'' (1923), an early ecocatastrophe

disaster novel A disaster is an event that causes serious harm to people, buildings, economies, or the environment, and the affected community cannot handle it alone. ''Natural disasters'' like avalanches, floods, earthquakes, and wildfires are caused by natur ...

in which

denitrifying bacteria Denitrifying bacteria are a diverse group of bacteria that encompass many different phyla. This group of bacteria, together with denitrifying fungi and archaea, is capable of performing denitrification as part of the nitrogen cycle. Denitrification ...

inimical to plant growth run amok and destroy world agriculture. The eponymous plutocrat Nordenholt constructs a refuge for the chosen few in Scotland, fortifying the Clyde valley. The novel is similar in spirit to such disaster stories as

Philip Wylie Philip Gordon Wylie (May 12, 1902 – October 25, 1971) was an American writer of works ranging from pulp science fiction, mysteries, social diatribes and satire to ecology and the threat of nuclear holocaust. Early life and career Born in Bever ...

and

Edwin Balmer Edwin Balmer (July 26, 1883 – March 21, 1959) was an American science fiction and mystery writer. Biography Balmer was born in Chicago to Helen Clark (Pratt) and Thomas Balmer. In 1909, he married Katharine MacHarg, sister of the writer ...

's ''

When Worlds Collide ''When Worlds Collide'' is a 1933 science fiction novel co-written by Edwin Balmer and Philip Wylie; they also co-authored the sequel '' After Worlds Collide'' (1934). It was first published as a six-part monthly serial (September 1932 through ...

'' (1933) and anticipates the theme of

John Christopher Sam Youd (16 April 1922 – 3 February 2012) was a British writer best known for science fiction written under the name of John Christopher, including the novels '' The Death of Grass'', ''The Possessors'', and the young-adult novel series ...

's '' The Death of Grass'' (1956).

Dorothy L. Sayers Dorothy Leigh Sayers ( ; 13 June 1893 – 17 December 1957) was an English crime novelist, playwright, translator and critic. Born in Oxford, Sayers was brought up in rural East Anglia and educated at Godolphin School in Salisbury and Somerv ...

paid tribute to Stewart's '' The Two Tickets Puzzle'' in her ''

The Five Red Herrings ''The Five Red Herrings'' (also ''The 5 Red Herrings'') is a 1931 novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, her sixth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. In the United States it was published in the same year under the title ''Suspicious Characters''. Plot The no ...

''. She gave him full credit and built on one of his ideas for part of the solution of her mystery.

John Dickson Carr John Dickson Carr (November 30, 1906 – February 27, 1977) was an American author of detective stories, who also published using the pseudonyms Carter Dickson, Carr Dickson, and Roger Fairbairn. He lived in England for a number of years, and ...

was also an admirer of Stewart's and Carr's first novel in 1930 mentioned two of Stewart's earlier novels with admiration.

Bibliography

Sir Clinton Driffield novels

* ''

Murder in the Maze ''Murder in the Maze'' is a 1927 detective novel by the British author Alfred Walter Stewart, published under his pseudonym J.J. Connington. It was the first of seventeen novels featuring his best-known character the Golden Age Detective Sir Cli ...

'', 1927 * '' Tragedy at Ravensthorpe'', 1927 * '' Mystery at Lynden Sands'', 1928 * '' The Case with Nine Solutions'', 1928 * '' Nemesis at Raynham Parva'', 1929 ( ''Grim Vengeance'') * '' The Boathouse Riddle'', 1931 * '' The Sweepstake Murders'', 1931 * '' The Castleford Conundrum'', 1932 * ''

The Ha-Ha Case ''The Ha-Ha Case'' is a 1934 detective novel by the British author Alfred Walter Stewart, published under his pseudonym J.J. Connington. It is the ninth in his series of novels featuring the Golden Age Detective Chief Constable Sir Clinton Drif ...

'', 1934 (a.k.a. ''The Brandon Case'') * '' In Whose Dim Shadow'', 1935 (a.k.a. ''The Tau Cross Mystery'') * '' A Minor Operation'', 1937 * ''

Truth Comes Limping ''Truth Comes Limping'' is a 1938 mystery detective novel by the British author Alfred Walter Stewart, published under his pseudonym J.J. Connington. It is the twelfth in a series of seventeen novels featuring the Golden Age Detective Sir Clint ...

'', 1938 * '' For Murder Will Speak'', 1938 (a.k.a. ''Murder Will Speak'') * ''

The Twenty-One Clues ''The Twenty-One Clues'' is a 1941 detective novel by the British author Alfred Walter Stewart, published under his pseudonym J.J. Connington. It is the fourteenth in a series of seventeen novels featuring the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, Gold ...

'', 1941 * '' No Past Is Dead'', 1942 * ''

Jack-in-the-Box A jack-in-the-box is a children's toy that outwardly consists of a Music Box, music box with a Crankset, crank. When the crank is turned, a music box mechanism in the toy plays a melody. After the crank has been turned a sufficient number of ti ...

'', 1944 * '' Common Sense Is All You Need'', 1947

Other novels

* ''Nordenholt's Million'', London, Bombay, Sydney: Constable & Co. Ltd., 1923; repr. New York: Dover Publications, 2016 * ''Almighty Gold'', 1924 * '' Death at Swaythling Court'', 1926 * '' The Dangerfield Talisman'', 1926 * '' The Eye in the Museum'', 1929 * '' The Two Tickets Puzzle'', 1930 (a.k.a. ''The Two Ticket Puzzle'') * '' Tom Tiddler's Island'', 1933 (a.k.a. ''Gold Brick Island'') * '' The Counsellor'', 1939 * '' The Four Defences'', 1940

Short stories

* "After Death the Doctor", (London) Daily News, 25 to 29 January 1934 * "Before Insulin", 1937

Nonfiction

* ''Stereochemistry'', 1907 * ''Recent Advances in Organic Chemistry'', 1908 * ''Inorganic and Physical Chemistry'', 1909 * ''Some Physico-chemical Themes'', 1922 * ''Alias J. J. Connington'', 1947 (repr. 2015)

References

External links

* * * *
Obituary of Alfred Walter Stewart (PDF)Norbert Nail: Genialer Chemiker und Meister des Detektivromans. Mit mathematischer Logik auf Mörderjagd - Das biografische Rätsel rund um die Philipps-Universität, in: Marburger UniJournal Nr. 56 (2018), p. 40
Nr. 57 (2018/19), p. 32
Norbert Nail: 100 Jahre J. J. Conningtons "Nordenholt's Million"
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Alfred Walter 1880 births 1947 deaths Writers from Glasgow Writers of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction Scottish novelists Scottish chemists Scottish crime fiction writers Alumni of the University of Glasgow Academics of Queen's University Belfast Academics of the University of Glasgow Scottish science fiction writers 20th-century Scottish novelists Scottish male novelists Members of the Detection Club 20th-century British male writers