The Man Who Called Himself Hamilton Cleek | Thomas W. Hanshew | A Bitesized Audiobook

Superintendent Maverick Narkom of Scotland Yard is on the hunt for "the vanishing cracksman", a daring thief who is a master of disguise. Police Constable Collins, on point duty at Blackfriars Bridge, could be the man to nab him at last...

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00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:19 The Kinematograph Film
00:22:51 Sir Horace Wyvern and Miss Ailsa Lorne
00:48:18 Superintendent Narkom's Visitor
01:00:03 Credits, thanks and further listening

Thomas Washington Hanshew (1857–1914) was an American actor and author who spent the latter part of his life and career in England. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and began a career on the stage in the early 1870s, when he was in his mid-teens.

There's not a great deal of verifiable information about either his life or career, but it appears he worked in his formative years with Adelaide Neilson (1848–1880), a British theatre star who achieved notable success in New York in a number of celebrated productions between 1872 and 1877. He is also recorded as having worked with Ellen Terry (1847–1928), perhaps the best known British actress of the late 19th century, leading lady to Henry Irving, and part of the illustrious Terry dynasty (whose later members included Ellen's great-nephew Sir John Gielgud). Ellen Terry toured the USA six times from 1883 onwards, but it's unclear whether Hanshew worked with her in America or in England (or both).

Whether through his connection with Neilson, or Terry, or some other route, Hanshew eventually made his way to Britain and settled in London. Exactly when he made the move is unclear, but he seems to have been established in London by the early 20th century, as he is recorded as contributing fiction to various periodicals, including Pearson's, Cosmopolitan, The Windsor Magazine, and many others, from 1904 onwards. He sometimes wrote under the pseudonym "Charlotte May Kingsley", and possibly other (female) pen names.

Hanshew's most celebrated creation, for which he's best remembered, is Hamilton Cleek, a master of disguise, known as "The Man of the Forty Faces" and "The Vanishing Cracksman", a successful gentleman thief who reforms and decides to use his talents to help the police as a detective. As far as I can ascertain, Cleek's adventures first appeared in print circa 1909–10; a series of his adventures appeared monthly in the "People’s Ideal Fiction Magazine" from August 1910 onwards, but it appears one or two stories featuring the character were published singly prior to that. A second (this time weekly) series appeared in Cassell's Saturday Journal in 1911–12, and such was the success of the character that many more were to follow before Hanshew's death in March 1914. The character actually survived the author's death, as it was continued by his wife Mary E. Hanshew: new stories continued to appear into the mid 1920s, usually jointly credited to "Mary E. Hanshew and Thomas W. Hanshew". Mary had also occasionally been credited as co-author during her husband's lifetime but this doesn't seem to have been consistent, so it's unclear quite how the partnership worked. Hanshew's use of female pseudonyms makes it difficult to be certain, but it's believed he produced 150 novels in his lifetime, plus dozens of short stories (mostly featuring Cleek).

Cleek was a wildly popular character with the public, leading to a successful series of silent films starring the American actor Ben F. Wilson, beginning with 'The Vanishing Cracksman' (1913).

The story narrated here actually forms the prologue to the 1910 volume 'Cleek, the Master Detective' and serves as an introduction to the character and how he came to join the forces of law and order after working against them. In that volume it is given the title "The Man Who Called Himself Hamilton Cleek", but it may have appeared separately in magazine publication under the title "The Man of the Forty Faces" (August 1910); however I've not been able to verify that it's definitely the same story. There are certainly records of other adventures (featuring Cleek as a detective) published in April 1910 and possibly earlier, so it may be that Hanshew decided to go back and write this "origin story" for his character.

Recording © Bitesized Audio 2023