Joseph Storer Clouston

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(23 May 1870,

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

, England – 23 June 1944,

Orkney Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, ...

, Scotland) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

author and historian.

Life and work

J. S. Clouston, the son of psychiatrist Sir Thomas Clouston, was from an "old Orkney family", according to his obituary in ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...

''. The Cloustons descend from Havard Gunnason (fl. 1090), Chief Counsellor to Haakon, Earl of Orkney, and later became landed gentry taking their name from their estate, Clouston. After being educated at

Merchiston Castle School Merchiston Castle School is an independent boarding school for boys in the suburb of Colinton in Edinburgh, Scotland. It has around 470 pupils and is open to boys between the ages of 7 and 18 as either boarding or day pupils; it was modelled ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, and

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

, he was called to the

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at the

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in 1895, but never practised as a lawyer. Soon after embarking on a career as a writer, he published one of his most popular novels, ''

The Lunatic at Large The Lunatic at Large may refer to: * The Lunatic at Large (novel), an 1899 comedy novel by J. Storer Clouston * The Lunatic at Large (1921 film) ''The Lunatic at Large'' is a 1921 British silent comedy film directed by Henry Edwards and star ...

''. He was also a historian, author of a great history of Orkney, a founder member and second president of the Orkney Antiquarian Society, and a Fellow of the

Society of Antiquaries of Scotland The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland is the senior antiquarian body of Scotland, with its headquarters in the National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh. The Society's aim is to promote the cultural heritage of Scotland. The usu ...

. His ''

The Spy in Black ''The Spy in Black'' (US: ''U-boat 29'') is a 1939 British spy film, and the first collaboration between the British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. They were brought together by Alexander Korda to make the World War I spy th ...

'' was made into a successful film in the late 1930s. '' His First Offence'' was also filmed in France as '' Drôle de drame'' (directed by Marcel Carné, 1937). His final novel was the 1941 thriller '' Beastmark the Spy''. He died at home at Smoogro House, Orphir, Orkney. After the death of his father's cousin (William Clouston, 23rd of Clouston), Clouston became head of the family. In 1903, he married his fourth cousin, Winifred, daughter of Charles Stewart Clouston, MD. They had two sons, Harald Thomas Stewart (who succeeded his father) and Erlend, and a daughter, Marjorie.Burke's Landed Gentry, 17th edition, ed. L. G. Pine, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1952, pp. 472–474, Clouston of Clouston and Smoogro pedigree Asked how to say his name, he told ''The

Literary Digest ''The Literary Digest'' was an American general interest weekly magazine published by Funk & Wagnalls. Founded by Isaac Kaufmann Funk in 1890, it eventually merged with two similar weekly magazines, ''Public Opinion'' and '' Current Opinion''. ...

'' it was ''cloos'-ton'', "with ''ou'' as in ''group''." (

Charles Earle Funk Charles Earle Funk (1881–1957) was an American lexicographer. He was a member of the Funk family who owned the publisher Funk & Wagnalls; Dr. Isaac Funk was his uncle. Funk wrote several etymological dictionaries An etymological dictionary ...

, ''What's the Name, Please?'', Funk & Wagnalls, 1936.)

Works

His fiction and nonfiction works include: *''Vandrad the Viking: or the Feud and the Spell'' (1898) *''

'' (1899) *''The Duke'' (1900) *''The Adventures of M. D'Haricot'' (1902) *''Our Lady's Inn'' (1903) *''Garmiscath'' (1904) *''Count Bunker'' (1906) *''A Country Family'' (1908) *''The Prodigal Father'' (1909) *''Tales of King Fido'' (1909) *''The Peer's Progress'' (1910) * '' The Mystery of Number 47'' (1912) (also known as ''His First Offence'') *''Records of the Earldom of Orkney 1299-1614'' (1914) *''Two's Two'' (1916) *''

'' (1917) *'' The Man from the Clouds'' (1918) *''Simon'' (1919) *''Carrington's Cases'' (1920) *'' The Lunatic at Large Again'' (1922) *''The Lunatic Still at Large'' (1923) *''The Two Strange Men'' (1924) *''Tales of King Fido'' (1924) *''The Lunatic in Charge'' (1926) *''Mr. Essington in Love'' (1927) *''The Jade's Progress'' (1928) *''After the Deed'' (1929) *''Colonel Dam'' (1930) *''A History of Orkney'' (1932) *''The Virtuous Vamp'' (1932) *''The Best Story Ever'' (1932) *''Button Brains'' (1933) *''The Chemical Baby'' (1934) *''Real Champagne'' (1934) *''Our Member Mr. Mittlebury'' (1935) *''Scotland Expects'' (1936) *''Scots Wha Ha'e'' (1936) *''Not Since Genesis'' (1938) *''The Man in Steel'' (1939) *'' Beastmark the Spy'' (1941)

References

*''

'': ''Scots Novelist – Death of Mr. J. Storer Clouston – Historian and Playwright'' (24 June 1944)
J. Storer Clouston
*

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Clouston, Storer 1870 births 1944 deaths People from Cumberland Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford People educated at Merchiston Castle School Scottish dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Scottish historians Scottish non-fiction writers Scottish novelists People from Orkney Officers of the Order of the British Empire

Life and work

Works

References

Further reading

External links