Neil Wynn Williams Explained

Neil Wynn Williams
Birth Date:	1864 2, df=yes
Birth Place:	Hampstead, London, England
Death Place:	Bedford, England
Education:	Bedford Modern School
Known For:	Author

Neil Wynn Williams (14 February 1864 – 1 February 1940) was a British novelist, writer and contributor of short stories and articles to the periodicals and journals of his time.^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]}

Life

Neil Wynn Williams was born in Hampstead on 14 February 1864, the son of William Rudyard Wynn Williams and Elizabeth Blackwell Campbell Williams (née Lambert).^[7] He was educated at Bedford Modern School between 1887 and 1891.^[8]

Wynn-Williams's initial published works were two volumes of Greek folklore, Tales And Sketches of Modern Greece that was published in 1894 and The Bayonet That Came Home: A Vanity Of Modern Greece that was published in 1896.^[9] In 1904 he was asked to contribute to a writer's view of Paris and wrote about the catacombs of the city.^[10]

Wynn-William's science fiction novel, The Electric Theft, was first published in 1906.^{[11] [12]} Although critically judged as having ‘little literary merit’, the novel is suggestive of Ian Fleming’s later James Bond novels: the hero, Reginald Burton, discovers that an anarchist, Boleroff, is in command of a vast electrolytic lake under London that he harnesses for his own means, cutting off London's electricity supply.^[13] All the while Burton is having an affair with a daughter of a wealthy British capitalist.^[13] At the end of the novel, Boleroff accidentally kills himself.^[13]

Wynn-Williams died in Bedford on 1 February 1940.^[14] He and his brother, Douglas Wynn Williams, had been accomplished oarsmen in their schooldays and endowed a rowing prize for the fastest pair at their old school.^[8] Wynn-Williams was survived by his wife, whom he had married in London on 4 September 1903, and three children.^[15]

Selected bibliography

• Tales And Sketches of Modern Greece. Published by The Bedford Publishing Co., London, David Nutt, 1894^[16]
• The Bayonet That Came Home: A Vanity Of Modern Greece. Published by Edward Arnold, London and New York City, 1896^[17]
• Greek Peasant Stories; Or, Gleams And Glooms Of Grecian Colour. Published by Digby, Long & Co., London, 1899^{[18] [19]}
• An Extraordinary Story. Published by George Newnes, Ltd, London, 1899
• Lady Haife. A Novel, Etc.. Published London, 1901^{[20] [21]}
• The Electric Theft. Published by Small, Maynard & Company, Boston, 1906^[13]

External links

• Neil Wynn Williams at WorldCat Identities
• The Electric Theft at The Open Library
• Audiobook, The Catacombs of Paris, by Neil Wynn Williams

Notes and References

1. Web site: Results for 'au:Williams, Neil Wynn.' [WorldCat.org]]. worldcat.org. 3 April 2015.
2. Book: Science-fiction, the Early Years. 9780873384162. 3 April 2015. Bleiler. Everett Franklin. 1990.
3. Book: The Economy of the Short Story in British Periodicals of the 1890s. 9781135868574. 3 April 2015. Chan. Winnie. 23 January 2007.
4. Web site: 08 Jun 1899 – SHORT STORIES. THE TALE OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. nla.gov.au. 3 April 2015.
5. Web site: 'Photograph of Neil Wynn Williams novelist full face'. Copyright owner of work: Neil.... Government of the United Kingdom. 3 April 2015.
6. Web site: p.256-7. The Literary Year Book, and Bookman's Directory, 1900. forgottenbooks.com. 3 April 2015. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150407145630/http://www.forgottenbooks.com/readbook_text/The_Literary_Year_Book_1000545113/263. 7 April 2015.
7. Certificate of Baptism, London, England. Births and Baptisms, 1813–1906
8. School of the Black and Red, A History of Bedford Modern School, by Andrew Underwood, 1981. Updated by Peter Boon, 2010. Paperback, p. 294
9. Book: Science-fiction, the Early Years. 9780873384162. 3 April 2015. Bleiler. Everett Franklin. 1990.
10. Web site: Paris as Seen and Described by Famous Writers. google.co.uk. 3 April 2015. Singleton. Esther. 1904.
11. Web site: The electric theft. archive.org. 3 April 2015.
12. Book: Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature. 9780941028769. 3 April 2015. Reginald. R.. Menville. Douglas. Burgess. Mary A.. September 2010.
13. Book: The electric theft. 7011356.
14. England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858–1966
15. London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754–1921
16. Book: Tales and sketches of modern Greece. 266997198.
17. Book: The bayonet that came home : a vanity of modern Greece. 58650610.
18. Book: Greek peasant stories; or, Gleams and glooms of Grecian colour.. 52277964.
19. Web site: NOVELS OF THE WEEK.*. The Spectator Archive. 3 April 2015.
20. Book: Lady Haife. A novel, etc.. 315309603.
21. Web site: Great Battles of the World. Mocavo. 3 April 2015.