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89:(c. 1833 â 1911) was an Australian writer, under the pseudonyms "Waif Wander" and "W.W." She was one of the earliest female detective writers in the world, and probably the first to write from the viewpoint of the detective. Never financially secure, she wrote prolifically over several genres including poetry, detective, gothic horror, journalism and travel writing.
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gave her an annuity when, her eyesight failing, she was unable to write. In 1910 she was in the "Benevolent Asylum" and she died in 1911. Her place of burial was unknown until 2016, when her grave was discovered at
Springvale Cemetery. Her death passed without public notice, in part because she wrote
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In
November 1856, she gave birth to a second son, registered under the name of her husband, although there is no record of him ever entering Australia. She soon found it more financially rewarding to work for local newspapers, and several were pleased to publish her poetry, although
105:, she married Joseph Fortune on 25 March 1851 and they had one son. When her father left Canada for the Australian goldfields, she followed him after receiving an offer to write about the goldrush for the
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withdrew a job offer after realising she was female In
January 1858 her elder son died. On 25 October 1858, Mary married a Police constable, Percy Rollo Brett (possibly bigamously) at
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101:, Ireland. Her mother, Eleanor, nÊe Atkinson, died when she was very young, so she travelled with her father, civil engineer George Wilson to Montreal, Canada. In
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In the early 1880s she collected her notes from the
Goldfield days, and wrote a serial that was part memoir, part travelogue under the title
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A prolific storyteller, she wrote in all over 500 detective stories over 40 years, most featuring
Detective Mark Sinclair.
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During her lifetime, she was popular enough to have a racehorse and greyhound named after her.
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She became an alcoholic and was arrested several times for public drunkenness. The
109:. She left her husband behind and travelled to Australia with her son, arriving in
688:, The Mail, 8 April 1916 (poem quoted in its entirety in a letter to the editor).
349:. The National Foundation for Australian Women (NFAW) and University of Melbourne
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from 1868 to 1908. In 1871, seven of the stories were published as a book, as
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526:"Solved! The case of Mary Fortune, the pioneering crime writer who vanished"
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370:"Australian Firsts: Mary Fortune, The World's First Female Detective Author"
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676:, Camperdown Chronicle, 2 February 1904 and 9 February 1904.
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The
Detective's Album : Tales of the Australian Police
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story "The White Maniac: A Doctor's Tale" (included in
575:"Mary Fortune's Life in the Colonial Periodical Press"
550:
Doig, James (June 2011). "Australian Ghost
Stories".
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The
Detective's Album: Tales of the Australian Police
621:Mary Fortune at the National Library of Australia
579:The Unsociable Sociability of Women's Lifewriting
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193:Twenty-Six Years Ago; or, the Diggings from '55
97:She was born Mary Helena Wilson around 1833 in
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784:20th-century Australian women journalists
779:19th-century Australian women journalists
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665:, Camperdown Chronicle, 3 November 1903.
368:Charleston, Libby-Jane (21 April 2017).
247:Dora Carleton : A Tale of Australia
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343:"Fortune, Mary Helena (c. 1833 â 1910)"
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682:, Camperdown Chronicle, 26 April 1904.
659:, Portland Guardian, 24 December 1886.
641:, Portland Guardian, 25 December 1879.
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401:. Melbourne. 20 March 1891. p. 10
229:The Secrets of Balbrooke : A Tale
195:. It was later republished as a book,
180:was serialized for forty years in the
764:20th-century Australian women writers
759:19th-century Australian women writers
639:Christmas Eve, Long Ago, At Braidwood
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695:"The White Maniac: A Doctor's Tale"
635:, Alexandra Times, 23 December 1876.
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789:20th-century Australian journalists
734:19th-century Australian journalists
653:, Queanbeyan Age, 26 December 1884.
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347:Australian Women's Archives Project
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739:People from the Colony of Victoria
499:"A Woman of Mystery: Mary Fortune"
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317:Australian Dictionary of Biography
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154:(2010)) verges on being a tale of
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774:19th-century pseudonymous writers
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223:Clyzia the Dwarf : A Romance
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16:Irish-Australian detective writer
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477:Victorian Fiction Researchguides
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647:, Burra Record, 28 April 1882.
581:. Springer. pp. 128â147.
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427:. 14 September 1887. p. 2
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235:The Bushranger's Autobiography
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651:Ike's Sin: A Story of the Sea
552:The National Library Magazine
524:Steger, Jason (7 July 2016).
453:. 19 February 1874. p. 2
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319:. Melbourne University Press
266:The Fortunes of Mary Fortune
197:The Fortunes of Mary Fortune
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612:(public domain audiobooks)
158:, but its theme is in fact
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769:Pseudonymous women writers
749:Australian mystery writers
421:"Queanbeyan Coursing Club"
680:The Lilies of Forgiveness
591:– via Google Books.
530:The Sydney Morning Herald
503:The Lucy Sussex Home Page
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744:Australian crime writers
577:. In Collett, A. (ed.).
152:Australian Ghost Stories
119:The Mount Alexander Mail
254:Short story collections
729:Australian women poets
668:Noel or Love and War:
313:"Fortune, Mary Helena"
275:Three Murder Mysteries
172:She is best known for
754:Women mystery writers
657:The Detective's Dream
606:Works by Mary Fortune
573:Brown, Megan (2010).
288:Cooee and Other Poems
178:The Detective's Album
174:The Detective's Album
167:The Detective's Album
113:, on 3 October 1855.
699:The Detectives Album
627:Examples of her work
395:"Kingston Turf Club"
111:Melbourne, Victoria
87:Mary Helena Fortune
182:Australian Journal
139:under pseudonyms.
136:Australian Journal
282:Poetry collection
268:(1996) edited by
123:Dunolly, Victoria
103:Melbourne, Canada
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80:Percy Rollo Brett
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497:Sussex, Lucy.
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473:"Mary Fortune"
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425:Queanbeyan Age
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311:Sussex, Lucy.
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206:Selected works
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505:. Lucy Sussex
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150:'s anthology
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93:Personal life
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719:1830s births
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52:Waif Wander
25:Mary Fortune
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724:1911 deaths
704:Lucy Sussex
697:Reprint of
663:Three Jacks
645:Monk's Mark
270:Lucy Sussex
59:Nationality
713:Categories
702:edited by
633:Wongaworra
447:"Literary"
295:References
148:James Doig
62:Australian
560:1836-6147
554:: 22â24.
399:The Argus
156:vampirism
610:LibriVox
49:Pen name
686:Coo-ee!
509:26 June
451:Mercury
431:26 June
405:26 June
353:26 June
323:26 June
199:in 1989
99:Belfast
36:Belfast
674:Part 2
670:Part 1
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535:7 July
482:8 July
457:8 July
379:8 July
290:(1995)
277:(2009)
262:(1871)
249:(1886)
243:(1884)
237:(1872)
231:(1866)
225:(1866)
219:(1866)
211:Novels
75:Spouse
67:Genre
672:and
583:ISBN
556:ISSN
537:2018
511:2011
484:2018
459:2018
433:2011
407:2011
381:2018
355:2011
325:2011
142:Her
54:W.W.
44:1911
41:Died
34:1833
31:Born
608:at
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.