Hazel Adair (novelist)

Hazel Iris Wilson Addis
BornHazel Iris Wilson
(1900-05-30)30 May 1900
Norwich, Norfolk, England
Died1 October 1990(1990-10-01) (aged 90)
Stowmarket, Suffolk, England
Pen nameHazel Adair,
H. I. Addis,
A. J. Heritage
LanguageEnglish language
SpouseEric Elrington Addis (Peter Drax)

Hazel Iris Addis, née Wilson (30 May 1900 – 1 October 1990), was a British writer of over 20 novels from 1935 to 1953, under the pseudonyms Hazel Adair[1][2] and A. J. Heritage.[3] Under her real name, H. I. Addis, she also published works relating to Cub Scouts.

Biography

Hazel Iris Wilson was born on 30 May 1900 in Norwich, Norfolk, England, daughter of Annie Margaret and Cecil Wilson.[4] She married the writer Eric Elrington Addis (alias Peter Drax) in 1926.[4][5] From 1926 to 1929, she lived in New Zealand, while her husband was based there with the Royal Navy.[6] On their return to England, they lived in Oxshott, Surrey.[1][2][6] Adair returned to New Zealand with her two children in 1940,[6] and remained there until after World War II ended.[7] Her husband was killed in after a bombing raid in Alexandria, Egypt in August 1941.[8]

Adair wrote over twenty novels, mostly under the pseudonym Hazel Adair. A review of her first book, published in 1935, said that she was "plucky .. set[ting] out to make a novel from a happy marriage!"[9] The reviewer commented that the book was "brightly written and ends happily, yet it has its graver side ... [and] an amusing sub-plot."[9] One reviewer of her second novel felt that the craftsmanship was better than in the first, but that the theme (of an unconventional woman shocking a respectable village) was over-used.[10] Another reviewer said, "Miss Adair adds a new tang and a new honesty to the situation",[11] but felt that there was some "antiquated machinery in the actual plot".[11] A Times Literary Supplement reviewer wrote of The Heritage (1939) that it presented "a splendid tangle of events that all resolve themselves most satisfactorily",[12] but commented that "One's credulity is perhaps a little strained at being asked to believe that devout Catholics should place such implicit faith in the theory of reincarnation, but otherwise the story is excellent of its kind."[12]

She was also active in the Boy Scouts Association.[7] She was a member of the training staff at Gilwell Park, England, for several years before WWII, and was awarded the Boy Scouts Association Medal of Merit for the work she did in New Zealand during WWII.[7] During the 1950s and 1960s, she was Headquarters Assistant Commissioner for Wolf Cubs,[13] and at the 9th World Scout Jamboree, 1957, she was the women's Indaba chief.[14] In 1955, she received the Silver Wolf Award in recognition of services of "most exceptional character" over 26 years.[15] She wrote several works for Cub Scouts, including a book of play scripts.

She died on 1 October 1990 in Stowmarket.[16] She had two children, Valerie and Jeremy;[6] Jeremy founded the magazine Books Ireland in 1976.[17]

Bibliography

As Hazel Adair

  • Wanted, A Son (1935)[9][10]
  • Mistress Mary (1936)[1][10][11]
  • A Torch is Lit (1936)[1][18][19]
  • All the Trumpets (1937)
  • Red Bunting (1937)[2][20]
  • Over the Stile (1938)
  • Sparrow Market (1938)[21]
  • Bendix and Son (1939)[22][23][24][25]
  • The Heritage (1939)[26][12]
  • Cockadays (1940)[27]
  • Mahogany and Deal (1940)[28]
  • The Lady of Garth House (1941)[29]
  • John Manifold (1942)[30]
  • Escape to Peril (1944)
  • The Enamelled Bird-Cage (1945)
  • Quoth the Raven (1947)[31]
  • Mistress of One (1948)
  • Challenge to Seven (1949)[3]
  • The Gentle Vagabond (1950)[32][33]
  • We Only Wanted Peter (1952)
  • No Bells Rang (1953)

As H. I. Addis

  • New Plays for Wolf Cubs (1935) (with V. V. Vanston)
  • Crime Within Crime (1937)
  • Duty to God in the Wolf Cub Pack (1951)[34]
  • Training Yarns for Akela (1963)
  • Programme Planning in the Cub Scout pack (1975)[35]

As A. J. Heritage

References and sources

  1. ^ a b c d "Part 1, Books, Group 1". Catalog of Copyright Entries. New Series. Copyright Office, Library of Congress: 1721, 1961. 1936. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  2. ^ a b c "Part 1. [A] Group 1. Books". Catalog of Copyright Entries. New Series. Copyright Office, Library of Congress: 161. 1938. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Carty, T.J. (2015). A Dictionary of Literary Pseudonyms in the English Language (2nd ed.). Routledge. ISBN 9781135955786. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  4. ^ a b "Fashionable and Personal". Sevenoaks Chronicle and Kentish Advertiser. 29 January 1926. p. 6. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  5. ^ "Novelist Killed In Action". Gloucestershire Echo. 12 September 1941. p. 3. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  6. ^ a b c d "ARRIVAL FROM ENGLAND Naval Officer's Wife". New Zealand Herald. Vol. LXXVII, no. 23817. 19 November 1940. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  7. ^ a b c "Medal Awarded. Work Among Scouts". New Zealand Herald. No. 25204. 17 May 1945. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  8. ^ "Bear Alley: The Case of Two Hazel Adairs". 24 November 2015.
  9. ^ a b c Wallace, Doreen (22 September 1935). "A Group of First Novels". The Sunday Times. No. 5867. p. 7.
  10. ^ a b c "Light Reading". Birmingham Daily Gazette. Birmingham, England. 9 September 1936. p. 8. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  11. ^ a b c "Trouble in a Village". The Daily Telegraph. No. 25221. London, England. 27 March 1936. p. 22.
  12. ^ a b c Royde-Smith, Erica J. (16 September 1939). "A Modern Juliet". The Times Literary Supplement. No. 1963. London, England. p. 541.
  13. ^ "300 Scouters at Birmingham 'Gather Round'". Birmingham Daily Post. Birmingham, England. 24 February 1958. p. 15. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  14. ^ "Four-hour Tour of Jamboree by Prime Minister". Coventry Evening Telegraph. Coventry, England. 10 August 1957. p. 1. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  15. ^ "Scout award for woman. Exceptional Services". Bury Free Press. Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. 29 April 1955. p. 7. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  16. ^ "Notices under the Trustee Act 1925, s. 27" (PDF). The London Gazette. Her Majesty's Stationery Office: 3049. 25 February 1991. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  17. ^ Kiely, Kevin. "Jeremy Addis Obituary". Poetry Ireland Éigse Éireann. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  18. ^ Cockburn, W. E. (4 November 1936). "An Epidemic of Witches. A Mixed Collection of Books". Liverpool Echo. Liverpool, England. p. 13. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  19. ^ "In Many Corners of the Changing World". Aberdeen Press and Journal. Aberdeen, Scotland. 30 September 1936. p. 3. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  20. ^ "The "Irish Problem". New Novels". Birmingham Daily Gazette. Birmingham, England. 20 January 1937. p. 8. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  21. ^ Buckley, T. J. (26 May 1938). "More Vivid Pictures of the Underworld". Liverpool Echo. Liverpool, England. p. 13. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  22. ^ "In A Nutshell". Manchester Evening News. Manchester, England. 15 April 1939. p. 8. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  23. ^ "Pages in Waiting". Nottingham Journal. Nottingham, England. 20 June 1939. p. 4. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  24. ^ "In Brief - But Good". Sheffield Daily Telegraph. Sheffield, England. 13 April 1939. p. 5. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  25. ^ "The Modern Way of Living". Aberdeen Journal. No. 26327. Aberdeen, Scotland. 18 May 1939. p. 3.
  26. ^ Swinnerton, Frank (3 September 1939). "New Novels. Strange Doings Everywhere". The Observer. London, England. p. 5.
  27. ^ "Regional Control". Liverpool Daily Post. 17 December 1940. p. 2. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  28. ^ "For Readers of Fiction". Birmingham Daily Gazette. Birmingham, England. 15 July 1940. p. 4. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  29. ^ Royde-Smith, Erica J. (18 October 1941). "Fiction in Brief. Character and Plot". The Times Literary Supplement. No. 2072. London, England. p. 521.
  30. ^ Cockburn, W. E. (19 May 1942). "Portrait Of A Saint .. Some Thrillers And Romances". Liverpool Echo. p. 3. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  31. ^ Edmondson, Arnold (27 February 1947). "Free Library Clients. Sea And Sentiment". Liverpool Echo. p. 2. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  32. ^ Edmondson, Arnold (25 September 1950). "Mainly New Novels. One That Will Test Credulity". Liverpool Echo. Liverpool, England. p. 4. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  33. ^ "A look at the new books". Belfast Telegraph. 13 September 1950. p. 3. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  34. ^ The British National Bibliography. The British Museum, London, England: THE COUNCIL OF THE BRITISH NATIONAL BIBLIOGRAPHY, LTD. 1952. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  35. ^ British Library (2012). The British Library General Subject Catalogue 1975-1985. Part 1: A - Airports (reprint ed.). Walter de Gruyter. p. 136. ISBN 9783111725949. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  36. ^ C. T. B. (24 February 1938). "To-day's Book Review". Western Daily Press. Bristol, England. p. 6. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  37. ^ "For Your Bookshelf". Nottingham Journal. Nottingham, England. 14 February 1938. p. 3. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  38. ^ "New Books. Tearing the Veil from Circus Life". Lancashire Evening Post. 15 February 1938. p. 4. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  39. ^ C. H. (20 January 1938). "New Novels". Birmingham Daily Gazette. Birmingham, England. p. 8. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  40. ^ "Here's A New Wodehouse Gang". Aberdeen Press and Journal. Aberdeen, Scotland. 15 February 1938. p. 3. Retrieved 15 July 2019.