Bertram Mitford FRGS[1] (13 June 1855 – 4 October 1914) was an English colonial writer, novelist, essayist and cultural critic who wrote forty-four books, most of which are set in South Africa.
He was a contemporary of H Rider Haggard. A member of the Mitford family, he was the third son of Edward Ledwich Osbaldeston Mitford (1811–1912). The latter became the 31st Lord of the Manor of Mitford in 1895 (following the death of his brother Colonel John Philip Osbaldeston Mitford) and died at Mitford Hall, Northumberland, in 1912.
Bertram Mitford was born in Bath in 1855, educated at Hurstpierpoint College in Sussex, went to southern Africa in 1874, living in Cheltenham 1881, married Zima Helen Gentle, daughter of Alfred Ebden, 9 March 1886 in Brighton, had daughter Yseulte Helen 3 June 1887 (died July 1969), had son Roland Bertram 17 June 1891 (died 16 April 1932), living in London 1891, and died in Cowfold, Sussex of liver disease in 1914.
He belonged to four London clubs: Junior Athenaeum, Savage, New Vagabond, and Wigwam.[2]
Partial bibliography
edit- Our arms in Zululand – 1881 – poems
- Through the Zululand – 1883 – non fiction
- The Fire Trumpet – Blackett 1889[3]
- The Weird of Deadly Hollow – Sutton 1891
- Golden Face – Trischler – 1892
- Tween Snow and Fire- Heinemann – Cassell 1892
- The Curses of Clement Waynflete – Ward 1894
- The King's Assegai – Chatto -1894
- The Luck of Gerard Ridgeley – Chatto 1894
- Renshaw Fanning's Quest – Chatto 1894
- The White Shield – Cassell 1895
- A Veldt Official – Ward 1895
- The Sign of the Spider – Methuen 1896[4]
- The Expiation of Wynne Palliser – Ward 1896
- Fordham's Feud – Ward 1897
- The Induna's Wife – White 1898
- The Ruby Sword – White 1899
- The Gun-Runner – Chatto 1899
- Aletta – White 1900
- John Ames, Native Commissioner – White 1900
- The Triumph of Hilary Blachland – Chatto 1901
- The Word of the Sorceress – Hutchinson 1902
- A Veldt Vendetta – Ward 1903
- Dorrien of Cranston – Hurst 1903
- Forging the Blades – Nash 1903
- Haviland's Chum – Chatto 1903
- In the Whirl of the Rising – Methuen 1904
- The Red Derelict – Methuen 1904
- The Sirdar's Oath – White 1904
- A Frontier Mystery – White 1905
- A Secret of the Lebombo – Hurst 1905
- Harley Greenoak's Charge – Chatto 1906
- The White Hand and the Black – Long 1907
- A Legacy of the Granite Hills – Long 1909
- A Border Scourge – Long 1910
- A Duel Resurrection – Ward 1910
- Ravenshaw of Rietholme – Ward 1910
- The Heath Hover Mystery – Ward 1911
- The River of Unrest – Ward 1912
- Seaford's snake – Ward 1912
- Selmin of Selmingfold – Ward 1912
- Averno – Ward 1913
- An Island of Eden – Ward 1913
References
edit- ^ "Election of Fellows". Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society. New Series. 12: 356. 1890.
- ^ "Mitford, Bertram". Who's Who: 1405–1406. 1913.
- ^ "Mini-review of The Fire Trumpet by Bertram Mitford". The Athenæum (3212): 628. 18 May 1889.
- ^ Buckingham, James Silk; Sterling, John; Maurice, Frederick Denison; Stebbing, Henry; Dilke, Charles Wentworth; Hervey, Thomas Kibble; Dixon, William Hepworth; MacColl, Norman; Rendall, Vernon Horace; Murry, John Middleton (16 January 1897). "Review of The Sign of the Spider by Bertram Mitford". The Athenæum (3612): 81.
- "Colonial Voices" Prof Gerald Monsman
- Burke's Peerage 107th edition
External links
edit- Works by Bertram Mitford at Project Gutenberg
- Works by Bertram Mitford at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Works by or about Bertram Mitford at the Internet Archive