| Harold Edward Bindloss | |
| Birth Date: | 6 April 1866 |
| Birth Place: | Wavertree, Liverpool, England |
| Death Place: | Carlisle, Cumbria, England |
| Nationality: | English |
| Occupation: | Author |
| Years Active: | 18981945 |
| Known For: | Novels of life in Canada and adventure in West Africa |
Harold Edward Bindloss (6 April 186630 December 1945) was an English novelist who wrote many adventure novels set in western Canada, and some in West Africa and England. His writing was strongly based on his own experience, whether as a seaman, a dock worker, a farmer or a planter.
Bindloss was born in on 6 April 1866 in Wavertree, Liverpool, England. the eldest son of Edward Williams Bindloss (born c. 1838), an iron merchant with six men in his employ at the time of the 1881 census. Bindloss had three sisters and four brothers. He spent several years at sea and in various colonies, especially in Africa, before returning to England in 1896, his health broken by malaria. Bindloss was absent from the family home in 1881, but the 1891 census found him living at home and serving as an iron-merchant's clerk, presumably for his father.
He apparently began work as a clerk in a shipping office but this did not suit his adventurous spirit, and he was at various times a farmer in Canada, a sailor, a dock worker and a planter. He returned to England in 1896, presumably from West Africa, as he returned sick of malaria. Given that he spent more than a decade at sea and in the colonies, it seems likely that his experience abroad was in two parts, first as a youth, and than as a young man, after 1891.
After returning home in 1896 he began working as a journalist, and then wrote two non-fiction books based on his travels, the first, In the Niger Country (1898, Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh) about West Africa, and the second, A Wide Dominion (1899, T. Fisher Unwin, London) about Canada. His first novel was Ainslie's Ju-Ju, set in West Africa which Truth described as "a book that has the double interest and excitement of a story and of a genuine record of travel and adventure mixed together judiciously." This was the first of nearly one hundred novels by Bindloss. The next A Sower of Wheat (1901, Chatto and Windus, London) was set in Canada. This set the pattern for Bindloss, as most of his novels were set in Canada or West Africa. The Guardian refers to him as having two strings to his bow, stories set in Canada or West Africa, with the Canadian stories being remarkably superior.
Bindloss married Mary Simpson Hossack (11 Mar 18692 November 1945) the youngest daughter of Captain Joseph Hossack, a marine surveyor, at St James Church in West Derby, Lancaster, on 12 June 1899. The couple appear not to have had any children as the 1911 census records them as not having had any after twelve years of marriage.
Bindloss was a prolific author. The most common obituary estimate is that he wrote over 40 novels.[1] ABC Bookworld lists 62 books by Bindloss. Kemp states that he wrote two to three books a year in the early 1900s. The Belfast Newsletter states that he published 67 books. However, Jisc Library Hub Discover lists 89 books by Bindloss, the first two being non-fiction and the rest novels.
He is remembered in the name of the town Bindloss, Alberta, Canada, established by the Canadian Pacific Railroad in 1914.
Bindloss died on 30 December 1945 at Chertsey Hill Nursing Home in Carlisle, England. He had been living at Vallum, Burgh-by-Sands in Cumbria. His estate was valued at £24,774 0s. 9d. His wife had died at home on 2 November 1945, and he was granted probate, as her executor just a fortnight before he died.
| 1 | 1898 | In the Niger Country | Edinburgh: Blackwood & Sons | x, 338 p. 1 fold-out map, 23 cm. | |||
| 2 | 1899 | A Wide Dominion | London: T. Fisher Unwin | 239 p., (8º) | |||
| 3 | 1900 | Ainslie's Ju-Ju. A Romance of the Hinterland | London: Chatto & Windus | vi. 274 p., (8º) | |||
| 4 | 1901 | A Sower of Wheat | London: Chatto & Windus | vi. 373 p., (8º) | Lorimer of the Northwest | ||
| 5 | 1902 | The Concession-Hunters | London: Chatto & Windus | 316p., (8º) | |||
| 6 | 1902 | Sunshine and Snow | London: S.W. Partridge & Co | 128, 24 p. : 8 ill., (8º) | |||
| 7 | 1903 | His Master Purpose | London: John Long | 316 p., (8º) | Thurston of Orchard Valley | ||
| 8 | 1903 | The Mistress of Bonaventure | London: Chatto & Windus | vi. 408 p., (8º) | |||
| 9 | 1904 | Daventry's Daughter | London: Chatto & Windus | vi. 364 p., (8º) | |||
| 10 | 1904 | The League of the Leopard | London: John Long | 324 p., (8º) | |||
| 11 | 1904 | True Grit. The Adventures of Two Lads in Western Africa | London: S. W. Partridge & Co | 330 p., (8º) | |||
| 12 | 1905 | Alton of Somasco | London: John Long | 375 p., (8º) | |||
| 13 | 1905 | The Impostor | London: F. V. White & Co | vi. 311 p., (8º) | Winston of the Prairie | ||
| 14 | 1905 | In the Misty Seas : a Story of the Sealers of Behring Strait | London: S. W. Partridge and Co | 330, 32 p., 6 ill., (8º) | |||
| 15 | 1906 | Beneath Her Station | London: F. V. White & Co | vi. 310 p., (8º) | |||
| 16 | 1906 | The Cattle-Baron's Daughter | London: John Long | 316 p., (8º) | |||
| 17 | 1906 | A Damaged Reputation | London: F. V. White & Co | vi, 312 p., (8º) | |||
| 18 | 1907 | Delilah of the Snows | London: John Long | 346 p., (8º) | |||
| 19 | 1907 | The Dust of Conflict | London: John Long | 353 p., (8º) | |||
| 20 | 1907 | His Lady's Pleasure | London: F. V. White & Co | vi. 306 p., (8º) | For Jacinta | ||
| 21 | 1908 | By Right of Purchase | London: John Long | 346 p., (8º) | |||
| 22 | 1908 | The Liberationist | London: Ward, Lock & Co | 351 p., (8º) | Long Odds | ||
| 23 | 1908 | Thrice Armed | London: John Long | 334 p., (8º) | |||
| 24 | 1909 | The Greater Power | London: John Long | 347 p., fs., (8º) | |||
| 25 | 1910 | Alison's Adventure | London: John Long | 335 p., (8º) | A Prairie Courtship | ||
| 26 | 1910 | The Gold Trail | London: John Long | 347 p., (8º) | |||
| 27 | 1910 | Hawtrey's Deputy | London: Ward, Lock & Co | 352 p., (8º) | Masters of the Wheat-lands | ||
| 28 | 1910 | The Opium Smugglers | London: T. Fisher Unwin | 318 p., (8º) | The Boy Ranchers of Puget Sound | ||
| 29 | 1910 | Rancher Carteret | London: John Long | 335 p., (8º) | |||
| 30 | 1911 | The Protector | London: Ward, Lock & Co | 320 p., (8º) | Vane of the Timberlands | ||
| 31 | 1912 | By Right of Passage | London: John Long | 318 p. : 1 ill., (8º) | |||
| 32 | 1912 | The Pioneer | London: Ward, Lock & Co | 373 p., (8º) | The Long Portage | ||
| 33 | 1912 | The Trustee | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 328, 8 p. : col. fs., (8º) | Ranching for Sylvia | ||
| 34 | 1913 | The Allinson Honour | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 320, 16 p. : col. fs., (8º) | |||
| 35 | 1913 | The Greater Power | London: John Long | 318 p., (8º) | |||
| 36 | 1913 | The Wastrel | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 320 p. : col. fs., (8º) | Prescott of Sackatchewan | ||
| 37 | 1914 | Blake's Burden | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 320 p. : col. fs., (8º) | The Intriguers | ||
| 38 | 1914 | Harold's Burden | London: Ward, Lock | 320 p. : 1 col. ill., (8º) | |||
| 39 | 1914 | The Secret of the Reef | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 320, 16 p. : col. fs., (8º) | |||
| 40 | 1915 | The Intruder | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 320, 16 p. : col. fs., (8º) | Harding of Allenwood | ||
| 41 | 1915 | A Risky Game | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 320, 16 p., col. fs., (8º) | The Coast of Adventure | ||
| 42 | 1916 | The Borderer | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 320 p. : col. fs., (8º) | Johnstone of the Border | ||
| 43 | 1916 | His One Talent | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 320 p. : fs., (8º) | Brandon of the Engineers | ||
| 44 | 1917 | Carmen's Messenger | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 319 p. : fs., (8º) | |||
| 45 | 1917 | Crossthwaite of Banisdale | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 255 p., 18 cm. | |||
| 46 | 1917 | Sadie's Conquest | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | vi, 7-303, 15, fs., (8º) | The Girl from Keller's | ||
| 47 | 1918 | Agatha's Fortune | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 319 p. : fs., (8º) | The Lure of the North | ||
| 48 | 1918 | Askew's Victory | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 319 p. : fs., (8º) | The Bucaneer Farmer | ||
| 49 | 1919 | Dearham's Inheritance | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 319 p. : fs., (8º) | Partners of the Out-trail | ||
| 50 | 1919 | Wyndham's Partner | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 320 p. : fs., (8º) | Wyndham's Pal | ||
| 51 | 1920 | The Head of the House | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 320 p., (8º) | Lister's Great Adventure | ||
| 52 | 1920 | Stayward's Vindication | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 315, [4] p., (8º) | The Wilderness Mine | ||
| 53 | 1921 | The Man from the Wilds | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 319 p., (8º) | |||
| 54 | 1921 | Musgrave's Luck | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 313, [6] p., (8º) | Kit Musgrave's Luck | ||
| 55 | 1922 | The Mountaineers | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 310, 10 p., (8º) | Northwest! | ||
| 56 | 1923 | The Keystone Block | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 308, [12] p., (8º) | The Bush-Rancher | ||
| 57 | 1923 | The Wilderness Patrol | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 312, [8] p., (8º) | |||
| 58 | 1924 | Andrew's Folly | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 310, [10] p., (8º) | Green Timber | ||
| 59 | 1924 | The Boys of Wildcat Ranch | London: Wells Gardner & Co | 242 p., (8º) | |||
| 60 | 1924 | The Lute Player | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 315, [4] p., (8º) | Carson of Red River | ||
| 61 | 1925 | The Broken Net | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 256 p., (8º) | Prairie Gold | ||
| 62 | 1925 | A Debt of Honour | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 313 p., (8º) | |||
| 63 | 1926 | Helen the Conqueror | New York: A.L. Burt | 314 p., (8º) | |||
| 64 | 1926 | Sour Grapes | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 304, [16] p., (8º) | The Broken Trail | ||
| 65 | 1927 | The Dark Road | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 319 p., (8º) | |||
| 66 | 1927 | Footsteps | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 304, [16] p., (8º) | |||
| 67 | 1928 | The Firm Hand | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 320 p., (8º) | The Lone Hand | ||
| 68 | 1928 | Halford's Adventure | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 319 p., (8º) | Mystery Reef | ||
| 69 | 1929 | Frontiersmen | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 320 p., (8º) | The Frontiersman | ||
| 70 | 1929 | The Harder Way | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 320 p., (8º) | |||
| 71 | 1930 | Harden's Escapade | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 320 p., (8º) | The Man at Willow Ranch | ||
| 72 | 1930 | A Moorside Feud | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 320 p., (8º) | |||
| 73 | 1931 | Carter's Triumph | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 320 p., (8º) | The Border Trail | ||
| 74 | 1931 | The Lean Years | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 320 p., (8º) | The Prairie Patrol | ||
| 75 | 1932 | Right of Way | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 312, [8] p., (8º) | |||
| 76 | 1933 | The Loser Pays | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 319 p., (8º) | |||
| 77 | 1933 | The Stain of the Forge | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 312, [8] p., (8º) | |||
| 78 | 1934 | Sonalta Gold | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 314, [6] p., (8º) | Valley Gold | ||
| 79 | 1935 | The Lady of the Plain | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 319 p., (8º) | |||
| 80 | 1936 | The Forbidden River | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 314 p., (8º) | |||
| 81 | 1937 | Fellside Folk | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 317, [2] p., (8º) | |||
| 82 | 1938 | Posted Missing | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 319 p., (8º) | |||
| 83 | 1939 | Valeria Goes West | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 319 p., (8º) | |||
| 84 | 1940 | What's Mine I Hold | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 320 p., (8º) | |||
| 85 | 1941 | The Call of the Soil | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 316, [4] p., (8º) | |||
| 86 | 1942 | The Secret of the Scree | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 288 p., (8º) | |||
| 87 | 1943 | Caverhills | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 254, [2] p., (8º) | |||
| 88 | 1945 | The Laird o' Borrans | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 224 p., (8º) | |||
| 89 | 1946 | Richardsons of the Forge | London: Ward, Lock & Co. | 239 p., (8º) |
Bindloss was a popular author. Some of his works such as, Alton of Somasco, Alison's Adventure, Delilah of the Snows and Thrice Armed were reprinted numerous times on both sides of the Atlantic. One reviewer writes: "A new book by Harold Bindloss is always welcome. He tells a story well indeed, but one likes his books best perhaps for the environment which he knows so well how to sketch. He has written charming stories of the Canadian Northwest and one remembers with pleasure his novels Prescott of Saskatchewan and Winston of the Prairie."[2]
One strong feature of Bindloss's work was that he wrote from his own experience, either of the sea, of Canada, or West Africa. The Buffalo Courier notes that "His descriptions are not those of the land-lubber who writes from a safe-point of vantage... He writes from a varied and wide experience of the charm the sea exerts over those, who once set forth upon its trackless waste."
The Oakland Tribune also wrote: "It has become so that a new book by Bindloss is warmly greeted, for while it Is like greeting an old friend, in a way, there is certain to be new characters and new manner of bringing a quickening of the blood and a tendency to hold the breath. Bindloss, besides writing of the sort of men and women that most of the world knows earns blessings by not making then transcend the improbable either in thought or deed. More briefly, they are human beings with greater opportunity for excitement that falls to the lot of most."
Harrison stated that "Bindloss was probably a more capable craftsman than any native Canadian writer of the period" and that "he had spent enough time in the West to make his settings authentic with real observed details."