R. Austin Freeman - Biography and Works
Richard Austin Freeman was born on April 11, 1862, in Marylebone, London, England, as the youngest of five children to tailor Richard Freeman (1822/3–1890) and Ann Maria Dunn. Little is known about his early life before he entered medical school at Middlesex Hospital at the age of eighteen. He earned his MRCS in 1886. A year later, he married Annie Elizabeth, with whom he had two sons.
In the summer of 1887, Freeman traveled to the Gold Coast Colony in Accra and served as a surgeon and navigator for an expedition to Ashanti and Bontuku in 1889. His book *Travels and Life in Ashanti and Jaman* was published in 1898. The conditions were perilous, and he contracted blackwater fever, which affected him for years to come. Invalided and sent back to London, he turned his pursuits to writing, and he and his wife settled in Gravesend, where he also practiced medicine.
*The Adventures of Romney Pringle* (1902), published under Freeman’s pseudonym Clifford Ashdown, was a collaboration with Dr. John James Pitcairn (1860-1936). Barrister and Doctor, John Evelyn Thorndyke, soon became the protagonist of over twenty of Freeman's own works, many highly praised and best-selling, with the first in the series being *The Red Thumb Mark* (1907). Freeman infused his scientific methodological background into Thorndyke’s character through forensically detecting clues and solving crimes, such as ingeniously forged fingerprints. Pearson’s Magazine published several of Freeman’s short stories, including *The Case of Oscar Brodski* (1912), a classic example of an `inverted’ detective story in which the criminal is introduced to the reader at the beginning. *The Mystery of 31 New Inn* (1912) contains a fine example of Freeman’s combination of dry wit and Thorndyke’s speculative assessment of the situation at the start of Chapter III.
Thorndyke’s use of a track chart, which Freeman had devised while in Africa, is typical of the author’s attention to realism and practicality, though critics argued that his encyclopedic knowledge was cumbersome. The experiments described in his stories had been tested by himself to ensure probability, though ultimately Freeman was mainly concerned with providing entertainment for his readers. During World War I, Freeman served as a captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps in Maidstone, Kent. After the war, he became involved with the Eugenics Society and wrote *Social Decay and Regeneration* in 1921. His views on society were grim, blaming the industrial revolution for its ills and suggesting that a return to the land in a utopic agricultural-based society was the solution. Richard Austin Freeman died at his home, Rosemount, 94 Windmill Street, Gravesend, Kent, on September 28, 1943.
Other works include:
- *Golden Pool* (1905)
- *The Mystery of Angelina Frood* (1924)
- *As a Thief in the Night* (1928)
- *The Penrose Mystery* (1936)
- *The Stoneware Monkey* (1938)
- *Mr. Polton Explains* (1940)
Biography written by C.D. Merriman for Jalic Inc. Copyright Jalic Inc 2006. All Rights Reserved.
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