Max Pemberton

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English novelist and publisher

title: "Max Pemberton" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1863-births", "1950-deaths", "19th-century-english-novelists", "20th-century-english-novelists", "people-educated-at-merchant-taylors'-school,-northwood", "people-educated-at-st-albans-school,-hertfordshire", "alumni-of-gonville-and-caius-college,-cambridge", "knights-bachelor", "london-school-of-journalism", "english-male-novelists", "19th-century-english-male-writers", "20th-century-english-male-writers", "english-mystery-writers", "english-historical-novelists", "writers-of-historical-fiction-set-in-the-early-modern-period", "burials-at-st-mary's-catholic-cemetery,-kensal-green"] description: "English novelist and publisher" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Pemberton" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary English novelist and publisher ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox writer "]

FieldValue
nameMax Pemberton
imageMax Pemberton 001.jpg
caption
birth_date
birth_placePaddington, London, England
death_date
death_placeLondon, England
occupationJournalist and author
alma_materMerchant Taylors' School
Caius College, Cambridge.
notableworksThe Iron Pirate
spouse{{Plainlist
* {{MarriageAlice Agnes Tussaud
awardsKnight Bachelor
honorific_prefixSir
::

::callout[type=note] the adventure/mystery novelist ::

| name = Max Pemberton | image = Max Pemberton 001.jpg | imagesize = | alt = | caption = | pseudonym = | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = Paddington, London, England | death_date = | death_place = London, England | resting_place = | occupation = Journalist and author | language = | ethnicity = | citizenship = | education = | alma_mater = Merchant Taylors' School Caius College, Cambridge. | period = | genre = | subject = | movement = | notableworks = The Iron Pirate | spouse = {{Plainlist|

  • Joan Berrill | partner = | children = | relatives = | influences = | influenced = | awards = Knight Bachelor | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | portaldisp = | honorific_prefix = Sir Sir Max Pemberton (19 June 1863 – 22 February 1950) was a popular English mystery and adventure novelist, biographer and publisher. He was also a prolific editor and worked for various popular periodicals and magazines including Chums and Cassell's Magazine.

Life

Max Pemberton was born in Paddington on 19 June 1863. He was educated at St Albans School, Merchant Taylors' School, and Caius College, Cambridge. A clubman, journalist and dandy (Lord Northcliffe admired his "fancy vests"), he frequented both Fleet Street and The Savage Club.

Pemberton married Alice Tussaud, who was the granddaughter of Madame Marie Tussaud, on 9 February 1885. They had seven children together. In 1924, she was granted a divorce under the previous year's Matrimonial Causes Act, alleging that Max had begun living with another woman, Joan Berrill, in 1913. Pemberton subsequently remarried to Berrill.

Works

Pemberton's most famous work The Iron Pirate became a best-seller after it was published in 1893 and it initiated his prolific writing career. This is a story about a great gas-driven iron-clad, which could outpace the navies of the world and terrorised the shipping of the Atlantic Ocean. The following year, Pemberton's collection of stories titled the Jewel Mysteries: From a Dealer's Note Book was published. This is a series of Mystery stories that each revolve around stolen jewels.

Between 1896 and 1906, Pemberton edited Cassell's Magazine, in which capacity he published the early works of R. Austin Freeman and William Le Queux. He also wrote historical fiction including I Crown Thee King (1902), which is set in Sherwood Forest during the time of Mary I.

During January 1908, and just one year after the death of Pemberton's friend and fellow Crimes Club member, Bertram Fletcher Robinson, he had a story titled Wheels of Anarchy published by Cassell. This book includes the following book dedication in the form of an "Author's Note":

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Max_Pemberton_002.jpg" caption=""I'm essentially an outdoor man." c. 1903"] ::

The Wheels of Anarchy is an adventure tale about anarchists and assassins, which is set across Continental Europe. The novel's hero, Bruce Driscoll, is a recent graduate of Jesus College, Cambridge and he appears to be modelled upon Robinson. In December 2010, Wheels of Anarchy by Max Pemberton was compiled, introduced and republished in facsimile form by Paul Spiring and Hugh Cooke.

Pemberton's novels Beatrice of Venice (1904) and Paulina (1922) centre on Napoleon's military campaigns in Italy. Other notable works included Captain Black (1911) and Father Brown story titled The Donnington Affair by G. K. Chesterton in an obscure British periodical named The Premier (1914). This short story was reprinted in the Chesterton Review in 1981.

In 1920, Pemberton founded the London School of Journalism, and wrote a biography about Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe. Pemberton also wrote a biography about Sir Henry Royce, which was published in 1934 shortly after Royce's death.

Death

Pemberton died at his home in London on 22 February 1950. He was buried at St Mary's Catholic Cemetery, Kensal Green.

Honours

Pemberton was knighted in the 1928 Birthday Honours, gazetted on 1 June 1928.

Selected bibliography

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/A_puritan's_wife_by_Max_Pemberton_LCCN2015646274.jpg" caption="Cover of ''A Puritan's Wife'' (1902)"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Wheels_of_Anarchy.jpg" caption="''Wheels of Anarchy'' (1908)"] ::

Sources

Notes

References

References

  1. LeRoy Lad Panek, ''After Sherlock Holmes: The Evolution of British and American Detective Stories, 1891–1914.''McFarland, 2014. {{ISBN. 9780786477654 (pp. 66-7).
  2. (1907). "Pemberton, Max".
  3. [[General Register Office]] index of births registered in July, August, September 1863 – Name: Pemberton, Max District: Kensington Volume: 1A Page: 9.
  4. {{acad
  5. Pemberton, Max. (1936). "Sixty Years Ago and After". [[Hutchinson & Co.]].
  6. (1971). "The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes: Early Detective Stories". [[Penguin Books]].
  7. (1924-05-02). "Mr. Max Pemberton Divorced". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
  8. (1950-02-23). "Obituary: Sir Max Pemberton". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
  9. "Magazine Issues".
  10. Nield, Jonathan. (1929). "A Guide to the Best Historical Novels and Tales". [[The Macmillan Company]].
  11. "Fletcher Robinson, Pemberton & Doyle". BFRonline.BIZ.
  12. (December 2010). "Wheels of Anarchy by Max Pemberton". MX.
  13. (1963). "Historical Fiction Guide: Annotated Chronological, Geographical, and Topical List of Five Thousand Selected Historical Novels". [[Scarecrow Press]].
  14. Chesterton, G. K.. (1987). "Thirteen Detectives". Xanadu.
  15. (1950-02-23). "Obituary: Sir Max Pemberton – A Versatile Author". [[The Times]].
  16. (1950-02-28). "Memorial Services". [[The Times]].
  17. ''[[The London Gazette]]'' Issue 33390, 1 June 1928 (Supplement), [https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/33390/supplement/3846 p. 3846]

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

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