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H. W. Twyman — Your Editor: Union Jack by W. O. G. Lofts This article first appeared in COLLECTORS' DIGEST Vol.11 Issues 119 to 440, 1956 Living in semi-retirement in a 300-year-old (but now modernised) cottage in Surrey is the man who, from 1921 to 1933, personally knew and saw practically every Union Jack author of that period. I have recently had the good fortune and privilege of paying Mr Twyman two most enjoyable and interesting visits, for he was only too pleased to converse with me about the 'old paper'. He has, in fact, enlightened me on quite a few things relating to Blake authors and stories which, until then, had been very obscure. I learned that Mr Twyman started at the Amalgamated Press as a proof reader in 1914, but was soon appointed Chief Sub-Editor of Chuckles (H. A. Hilton was the controlling Editor). He then joined up, serving with the A.S.C. (now R.A.S.C.). On his return, Mr Twyman was given the editorship of a new paper, the Detective Library (1919). Most of its stories were reprints, but he did write several original stories for that publication. In connection with the Detective Library, Mr Twyman was able to enlighten me on two things which I (and many others) have been wanting to know for a very long time; firstly that 'Derek Clyde' was created by William Murray Graydon, and secondly, that the stories featuring width="810" Blake at Kingsmere College were written by Stanley Gordon Shaw. The editor of the Union Jack at that time was Walter Shute (better known as the writer Walter Edwards) and when he left in 1921 to become a freelance, Mr Twyman took over the Union Jack from him. From that time onwards the Union Jack continued to be a great success and although the official records cannot be stated, an estimated weekly circulation of around 300,000 copies would not be far out. Mr Twyman has his own personal record of all Blake writers in the Union Jack from issue 906 (19th Feb 1921) to 1,216 (5th Feb 1927) and these details, having been entered at that time, must be accepted as correct. Len Packman and Walter Webb very kindly loaned me their books of records and, with Mr Twyman's permission, I was able to check, amend and add authors' names where necessary (it must be remembered that the author's name was not given with the stories at that time). Here, I would pay tribute to Len and Walter — and those who have helped them in compiling their lists — on a very fine achievement, for out of 300 odd issues I only found 38 authors' names needing correction, half of which one would never have imagined could be wrong. Some of them were practically unknown, in addition to which I discovered that ten of the 'Criminals Confederation' stories were written by Gilbert Chester, as Robert Murray was indisposed at that time. (Mr Twyman wrote one of the later 'Confederation' stories himself: "Enter the President" U.J. 1,484). Apart from his official list, he was also kind enough to give me the names of several Union Jack writers whose work had previously been undetermined. A document even more authentic than the copied list referred to, and covering about twice the length of time (1921-1933), was the office record-book in which were entered not only authors' and artists' names, but all the day-to-day details such as press dates necessary for the running of the paper. Because it was so continuously referred to for guidance, it was jocularly known as 'The Bible.' On our Editor's taking over another paper, the ‘Bible’ passed into the keeping of his successor and was finally lost sight of — probably in a load of paper salvage only to reappear in the shape of sugar cartons or suchlike. Thus, the definitive and indisputable answer to many a baffled collector's questions, which would have been worth untold gallons of midnight oil, was lost to the cause. Mr. Twyman was very interested in my Blakiana article last year on Gwyn Evans, for he knew the colourful Gwyn better than anyone; he has in fact written an account of Gwyn's escapades and 'goings on' in the freelance market (entitled "Good Evans - Crazy as a Coot"). Having kindly been loaned the manuscript, I must say it makes very interesting reading, and Mr Twyman has most kindly promised that I may let Mr. Leckenby publish it in the Collector’s Digest later on. Speaking of Gwyn Evans, my host's opinion was that he was undoubtedly one of his best writers and certainly the most colourful personality. But, of course, there was a snag: his casualness and irresponsible ways made an awful lot of subbing necessary before all the loopholes were plugged and the loose ends tied up. Conversely, there were other authors — notably Edwy Searles Brooks — whose copy was as easy to read as a page of print. Gwyn Evans wrote all his stories in a small, neat, round hand, with a left-hand margin that rapidly became wider and wider as he got down the page. This, as any handwriting analyst knows, is a sure sign of fast, fluent writing and it is an indication of how smoothly those flights of fancy poured from his pen. The series most popular in the Union Jack during Mr Twyman's editorship was that featuring the 'Criminals Confederation' and the most popular artist was Eric Parker. A very fine artist himself, a number of Mr Twyman's oil paintings adorn the inner walls of the cottage. Many readers of the width="810" Blake Annual No. 2 will remember the plan of width="810" Blake's house in Baker Street, which was also his work, though this was rather in the nature of architectural fantasy than portraiture, which is his present interest. Mr Twyman, who is, I would say, in appearance much like the great width="810" Blake himself (complete with pipe), told me a number of amusing stories concerning readers' unquestioning belief in the actual reality of Blake as a living man. For example, there was the elderly woman reader who wrote asking in all seriousness whether she could be considered for the job of width="810" Blake's housekeeper when Mrs Bardell retired. Also, later on, a second lady had a similar ambition. She went further and called at the office asking to see Mr Blake. Realising her error, Mr Twyman gently tried to disillusion her when she addressed him as Blake, but she could not accept the idea of a fictitious detective and must have thought that her hero was going about incognito for some reason, for she persistently held to her belief. Moreover, she deduced that the Union Jack's chief sub-editor must of course be Tinker. He also told me of a visit to Paris to see G. H. Teed, who was then living there, to talk over plots for future stories, and of how one story was inspired by certain unrehearsed events in Notre Dame Cathedral. One of the most frequently-asked questions is why the Union Jack was changed to the Detective Weekly. The answer is simple — because of the decline in the sales of the former. Like many other papers, when all the plans for changing over were cut and dried, the sales began to pick up again! Leonard H. Brooks (I was told) was the brother of Edwy Searles Brooks, and this explains Walter Webb's statement as to the similarity of their work. Walter also told me that L. H. Brooks died in very tragic circumstances about four years ago. Generally speaking, about two out of every three Union Jack stories were accepted for publication, the rate of payment for a story being about £28. The knock-out blow to the Blake saga, Mr Twyman reckons, was just before the beginning of World War II: Gwyn Evans, G. H. Teed and Robert Murray all died at that time or shortly after, as did the artists Fred Bennett and Val Reading, while H. M. Lewis abruptly vanished without explanation or later trace (a job for me to solve, he jokingly remarked). William Murray Graydon was lost sight of, and perhaps died, in Paris, and that was the last seen of him. Ladbroke Black and John G. Brandon were two others who died. Clifford Gates was another, in his case after the war and as the result of a mine explosion. In addition to the stories he wrote for the Detective Library, Mr Twyman also wrote some for the Detective Weekly and numerous other publications, by Amalgamated Press and otherwise. In the Union Jack he is represented by only two stories: "Enter the President", already mentioned, and "The Case of Cormack's Key" (issue 1,073). And, (for the information of Hamiltonians) he confesses to being one of the ‘untouchables’, a substitute author, with "Billy Bunter's Legacy" in Magnet, issue 941 and "The Temptation of Peter Hazeldene", issue 949. Here is an extract of a letter from Mr Twyman to Len Packman: I may say I am vastly impressed by the work, not only of Mr Lofts himself, but of other members, in so patiently and skilfully assembling through deduction and research such a mass of information. Because of the inevitable limitations of the techniques they can use there are naturally some errors — being gradually weeded out as the wholesale research progresses — but on the other hand some of the facts I have read would, I am sure, have come as a revelation to my colleagues in the A.P., as they do to me. But, of course, there is a difference between the situation of the collector and that of the editorial worker; you have the whole range of the finished product before you in which to compare, compile, evaluate and detect lapses into inconsistency; whereas we lack both the opportunity and inclination for the historical approach because of deadlines and detail, the preoccupations of policy, of being harassed by authors and artists who simply won't deliver to time, and of too much work and too little staff. Yes, there is a difference between running a paper and running down the facts about it long afterwards. It is the difference between a man working with a fine-focus microscope and another surveying the scene with a telescope. |