I've worked on piecing together the life of Dorothy Bowers over the past few years, and recently posted an updated set of information about Dorothy. The reason I took such in interest in Bowers is because her five published novels were of incredibly high quality, and because so little was known about her.
There is a second unappreciated author I have an incredible appreciation for:
Maureen Sarsfield
Sarsfield presents something of a mystery. The name is a pseudonym, and she did not reveal her true name during her career. Sarsfield published two spirited mysteries in England with Inspector Parry on the case:
- Green December Fills the Graveyard, 1945
- Dinner for None, 1948 (with the title A Party for Lawty in the US)
Sarsfield also published a third non-mystery novel titled 'Gloriana'. I have original copies of the US editions of her mystery works (one of which is signed by Sarsfield), and a UK print of Gloriana.
The excellent but now defunct Rue Morgue Press (Colorado, USA) republished these novels in 2003, but inexplicably blandly retitled them (!) as 'Murder at Shots Hall' and 'Murder at Beechlands'.
At the time of re-printing, very little was known of who Maureen Sarsfield really was, as this selection of text from the introduction to the Rue Morgue Press reprints demonstrates:
The Mystery of Maureen Sarsfield
"British writer Maureen Sarsfield had all the tools necessary to make it as a major mystery writer, but after publishing just three novels - two of which were mysteries - between 1945 and 1948, she completely disappeared from the literary landscape. Whether she died young, commenced her short career at an advanced age or simply grew tired of writing life is unknown. The biographical copy on the dust jacket of the American edition of Green December Fills the Graveyard merely identifies her as a new writer, making no comment on her age. Many of the characters in her three novels are in their thirties or forties, and she writes so believably about the sensibilities and attitudes of that age group that she herself probably either belonged to it or had recently entered early stages of middle age.
"There is no evidence that her books... made much of a splash in the US. Other than an appearance in 1950 in Two Complete Detective Novels (a pulp magazine) by Green December, her books seem not to have been reprinted. Her choice of titles for her mystery books may have been partly to blame for what we assume were unimpressive sales. We make no apologies for giving both mysteries some-what more genre-driven titles. All our effort, going back several years, to discover anything at all about Sarsfield have failed.
"These two mysteries are a gem of the British school. Both feature the fortyish Lane Parry, a Scotland Yard detective who twice finds evil deeds un the backwaters of Sussex. Parry is a complex and well-drawn character.
Clearly this matter was resolved to some degree following publication, as the Rue Morgue Press website (which no longer exists) had a note that the author's true name at the time of publication of her books was Maureen Pretyman, and she simultaneously published children's stories under that name. However, like Dorothy Bowers, no biographical summary of Sarsfield's life exists.
So let's rectify that!
As will be shown, Maureen's local newspapers in the mid 1940s reveal that Sarsfield was a pen-name for Maureen Pretyman. However, the general public was unaware that Sarsfiend was a pseudonym. This short article related to the first of her two mystery novels gives a flavor of her character, but also don't provide much solid to work with from a research point of view:
Daily Mirror
Mon, Dec 31, 1945
This Month's New Author. Maureen Sarsfield, with "Green December Fills the Churchyard" (Pilot Press, 8s. 6d.). By birth she is three-quarter Irish, one-quarter Australian, with a dash of Italian and Viking. Married early, her late husband told her that all wives should earn their own living, no matter what their husbands' finances, so she became serving girl in a dress shop, a buyer, packer ; went on the films, and raced at Brooklands. Plays shove ha'penny as a hobby.
As for her book this would be a really excellent first detective story (it is fast-moving and with brilliant situations) except for one thing: there is an appalling amount of bad language in it.
Maureen Kate HEARD was born in Surrey, England in 1899 to Edward Severin HEARD and Georgina HEARD. Both Edward and Georgina were the children of senior military officers, and both had been born in India where the British had significant military postings. In the 1901 census Maureen was living in Frimley, Surrey with her parents and an older brother Patrick B V HEARD. Edward was described as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Northumberland Fusiliers (!! for any Sherlockian) and a Professor in Topography at the Staff College. In the 1911 census, Maureen was staying with her maternal grandparents Beauchamp and Manie Magrath in Camberley, Surrey.
In 1919, Maureen marred George Frederick Pretyman at Holy Trinity Church, Brompton (in London).
At the time, Maureen was living in Collingham Rd London. Maureen was marrying within the senior military network. George's father was General Sir George Tindal Pretyman (1845-1917), who had served in the Second Anglo-Afghan War (!! again for the Sherlockians) aide-de-camp to Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, and continued to serve with distinction in later expeditions, including during the Boer War.
Maureen's husband himself was no slouch. His Profession was listed as Lieutenant-Colonel in the RAF. George distinguished himself in the Royal Flying Corp, and as a member of 3 Squadron is reputed to have taken the RFC’s first wartime aerial photographs during a September 15, 1914 sortie. In 1915 he received a DSO for bombing a German train he observed to be loading German troops destined for the front.
There is not a great deal of information about Maureen from the end of the WW1 (i.e., 1919) till WW2 (1939). Following the war George stayed in the RAF. In 1926, George was assaulted in Uxbridge (west of London) where they lived, so severely that it was estimated he could never fly again, and the assailant was jailed. George retired from the RAF in 1929, and at the age of only 45 he died in the village of Alresford, Hampshire. George's death received attention in the English press because of a curious stipulation in his Will:
Gloucester Citizen - Thursday 01 July 1937
AIRMAN'S BURIAL PLAN"LAND WASTED BY GRAVEYARDS"
"I particularly wish that my body shall not be buried, as having flown over the greater part of the United Kingdom, I have noticed what a large amount of valuable land is wasted for purposes of graveyards."
This was the last wish as disclosed in his will published to-day of Wing Commander George Frederick Pretyman, D.S.O. of Creek House, Alresford, Essex, who died on June 4 last, aged 45, leaving estate of the gross value of L8,719 (net personally L7,093)
Widowed at the age of about 37, it appears Maureen - not yet an author - moved in with her father. With the initiation of World War 2, a civilian register was compiled in England & Wales, and Maureen was entered as living with her father (a widower) at Friar's Hill House, Battle in Sussex.
At the start of the war, Maureen and her father purchased an old decommissioned windmill called "Harrow Mill" in the village of Baldslow north of Hastings (it still stands today). Pretyman published her first book for children in 1943 - titled 'They Knew Too Much'. The local newspaper featured an extensive article on Pretyman at the time of her first publication (Hastings and St Leonards Observer - Saturday 02 October 1943), some parts of which are excerpted here:
With its magnificent outlook over coast and countryside, the old mill one the most romantic residences Sussex, and its interior has been transformed into charming home. An unusual knocker in the form of a bronze dolphin, its tail fashioned into trident, hangs the front door and it has a story of its own. It is a relic of Mrs. Pretyman’s old home on Kenmare Bay, County Kerry, in West Ireland. "This house was burned down by the IRA one night during the troubles in 1922.” said Mrs. Pretyman. "My father and mother and the rest of the household were rescued by the Royal Navy and taken off in a destroyer. When we came Sussex we lived, first of all, at The Roughters Icklesham, and afterwards at Guestling. We moved to the Harrow Mill about two months after the war started.”
All these properties are large and belie a significant family wealth.
At Baldslow Mrs. Pretyman has not only been an active member the Civil Defence Service as a warden, but for some months after the formation the Home Guard she helped by running a canteen of her own for the men near the mill during the time a post was maintained there. One would think that this would be enough extra occupation besides the management a home, for the most energetic of workers, but she added to her responsibilities undertaking the care of two evacuee children and even two evacuee dogs well."
These children are likely represented in the 1939 register referred to above, where two children, Charles and Edward West, are living at the mill with Maureen and her father. It is interesting to note that my biography of Dorothy Bowers also identified that she also took in at least one child during the war. Pretyman explained that she started writing because she was dissatisfied with the quality of children's books available.
"She has made writing her main hobby as well as occupation, but before the days of petrol restrictions she was ardent motorist, and gardening is another of her interests. It was very peaceful at the old mill.... Beyond the open door with its dolphin guardian there was a glimpse of the sunlit garden and the Sussex countryside beyond. But Mrs. Pretyman has memories of strenuous days during the Battle of Britain when things were far different. "The mill balcony was a splendid look-out point,” she said, “and many a time we watched the German air squadrons approaching, and then saw them broken up and beaten back by a handful of our gallant pilots.”
A series of children's books followed, and then the three books for adults published under the name Maureen Sarsfield - a newspaper article states she published elevn in total but this is what I've found:
Maureen Pretyman:
- They Knew Too Much (1943)
- Dreaming Mountain. A Fairy Story of County Kerry (1944)
- Queen Victoria Lost Her Crown (1946)
- Stars in Danger (1946)
- The Mermaid of Kilshannig (1947)
Maureen Sarsfield:
- Green December Fills the Graveyard (1945)
- Gloriana (1946)
- Dinner for None (1948) ; Party for Lawty in the US ; also printed in French
Certainly eight books was an intense output for a six year period. As quickly as Maureen started, she finished. In 1944, Maureen's father died. The UK probate confirms that there was an Australian family connection for Maureen's paternal family.
Probably as a result of her father's death, Maureen sold Harrow Mill, and the sale and author were again featured in a newspaper article ("Authoress Seeks Smaller Home", Hastings and St Leonards Observer - Saturday 06 March 1948).
"After the sale, Mrs. Pretyman told Observer reporter that she had disposed of the property because she found it rather too large for her requirements, but she was deeply attached to this part of the country and she would remain in the locality if she could find a small house to suit her. Mrs. Pretyman has written all her 11 books at the Harrow Mill. She writes children’s books under the name of Maureen Pretyman and novels under that of Maureen Sarsfield. Her last book, published in January, was entitled Dinner for One.” A room above the lounge partitioned off a writing-room."
For reasons not yet understood, Maureen never published another book. She possibly lived in London after leaving the mill, but ultimately lived back in Ireland. There were no more books, and no news articles that reference her. She did not have children, and when she died in 1961 aged about 61, she was living at Temple Hill Nursing Home in Tahilla, Killarney, Cork. Pretyman's will leaves her estate to a number of family members.
Her Will directs that "should I die in Eire I wish to be buried next to my grandfather Samuel Thomas Heard in Sneem Churchyard County Kerry." I have not yet identified a headstone for Pretyman. Among the directions, her "copyright in any of my literary works and the benefit of all literary contracts" were left to her niece Irina Heard (the daughter of her older brother, living at The Bungalow, Idmiston).
Finally - I'm going to complete Maureen's family tree as I'd dearly love to discover a photograph of Maureen. Like Dorothy Bowers, Maureen didn't have photographs in her dust jackets (at least the ones I have) and none can be found in newspapers.
