Nelson Lee (detective)

Nelson Lee
First appearance	A Dead Man’s Secret (19 September 1894)
Created by	Dr. John William Staniforth (as Maxwell Scott)
In-universe information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Detective
Nationality	British

Nelson Lee was one of the longest-running detectives of the British story papers.^[1] Throughout his 40-year run in the Amalgamated Press papers, he was perhaps second only to Sexton Blake in popularity.^{[2] [1]} Created in 1894 by Maxwell Scott (the pseudonym of Dr. John Staniforth 1863-1927) he appeared in various publications including The Halfpenny Marvel, Pluck, The Boys' Friend, Boy’s Realm, The Boys' Herald and the Union Jack^[3] In 1915 he was given his own story-paper series, The Nelson Lee Library, which ran until 1933. In all Lee appeared in over 2500 tales set in every corner of the globe, making him one of the most published fictional detectives of all time.^[3][1]

Publication history[]

The 1890s: The solo years[]

Nelson Lee made his debut in A Dead Man’s Secret in The Halfpenny Marvel #46, on 19 September 1894.^[2] The world would meet him at the open of Chapter 2:

Nelson Lee, the famous detective, sat in his room in Gray’s Inn Road, dealing with his morning’s correspondence. So great was the demand for his advice and help that nine-tenths of his replies were to the effect that “Mr. Lee regrets that, owing to the number of cases he already has on hand, he is unable to deal with Mr. So-and-so’s case.” He had already replied in this strain to an earl whose family jewels had been stolen, a banker whose clerk had absconded, and a well-known member of the Jockey Club whose favourite race-horse had been poisoned, when he was interrupted by the entrance of his landlady, who handed him a card...

Lee was an immediate success and made his second appearance in Nelson Lee, Detective six issues later. He made his third appearance in The Adventures of Nelson Lee, in Union Jack Library #35, in December 1894 then made a final appearance in The Halfpenny Marvel in The Jewel Thief in issue #74. From May 1895 he began appearing in Pluck featuring in 18 tales over the next three years. That summer he also appeared in The Mystery of the Malton Moors published in the Comic Home Journal. In the 1895 Christmas issue of Pluck he starred alongside detectives Sexton Blake and Gideon Barr. The tale, Christmas Clues, established Lee and Blake as friends. The two would team up repeatedly over the next 40 years. During this period Lee worked alone for the most part, accepting cases from his office on Gray’s Inn Road.^[4] Tales from this era include:

1. A Dead Man’s Secret
2. Nelson Lee Detective
3. The Adventures of Nelson Lee
4. The Mystery of the Malton Moors
5. The Jewel Thief
6. A False Scent
7. The Thief of the Black Ruby
8. Christmas Clues
9. Nelson Lee Detective
10. A Threefold Mystery
11. No Clue
12. Vengeance
13. Saved from Siberia
14. The Missing Admiral
15. The Mystery of the old Churchyard
16. A Christmas Mystery
17. The Black Brotherhood
18. The Theft of the Aztec Opal
19. Sons of Fire
20. One False Step
21. Captain Twilight
22. The Way of Transgressors
23. A Triple Tragedy
24. The Stolen Despatches
25. A Christmas Tragedy

The 1900s: The great serials[]

Towards the end of the 19th century Staniforth had a falling out with his editor and switched to publishing in other story papers. The era of the great Nelson Lee serials began with Birds of Prey a 20-part serial that ran in The Boys' Friend from July 27th to December 7th 1901.^[5] It was followed by The Silver Dwarf (Dec 7th 1901 to March 15th, 1902) and The Missing Heir (March 29-August 9, 1902). Staniforth listed these as his favourite Nelson Lee tales. ^[6]

The boy-detective: The creation of a new sub-genre[]

In 1903 Nelson Lee's life changed forever. In Nelson Lee's Pupil he acquired an assistant: Richard Hamilton, better known as "Nipper". Nipper was a street urchin who made his first appearance in A Dead Man’s Secret ten years earlier.^[5] This retelling of their encounter ran from issues #2-26 in Boys' Herald and was subsequntly republished in The Boys' Friend Library in 1907. The two would be inseparable for the next 30 years.

Following in Lee's footsteps, Sexton Blake was given a boy assitant, Tinker, the following year, in Cunning against Skill, a tale penned by William Murray Graydon in 1904. Tinker and Nipper were influential in the subsequent creation of boy-detectives in the British story papers with subsequent authors following the pattern that they established: "uncultured but extraordinarily sharp street urchins, rescued from poverty and obscurity by a famous London private detective."^[3]

Some of the popular Nelson Lee serials from this era include:

• Birds of Prey, 1901
• The Silver Dwarf, 1901
• The Missing Heir, 1902
• Nelson Lee's Rival, 1902
• The Hidden Will, 1903
• Nelson Lee's Pupil, 1903
• The Great Unknown, 1904
• Nipper's Schooldays, 1904
• The Football Detective, 1905
• The Black House, 1905
• Detective-Warder Nelson Lee, 1906
• The Soldier Detective, 1906
• The Captain of St. Ninian’s, 1906
• The Iron Hand, 1907
• The Fighting Fifth, 1907
• The League of the Iron Hand, 1907
• Britain Beyond the Seas, 1908
• Detective Nipper, 1908
• The New Bowler, 1909
• Bowled Out, 1909
• The Winged Terror, 1909
• The Golden Quest, 1910
• Long Live the King, 1911
• Nipper at St. Ninian's, 1912
• Nipper's First Case, 1912
• The Film Detective, 1914
• On His Majesty’s Service; or, The Master Spy, 1914

The Boys' Friend Library[]

Written by Maxwell Scott

• Birds of Prey, BFL #4, 1906
• The Silver Dwarf, BFL #16, 1907
• The Missing Heir, BFL #17, 1907
• Nelson Lee’s Pupil, BFL #19, 1907
• The Great Unknown, BFL #24, 1907
• The Stolen Submarine, BFL #25, 1907
• Nelson Lee’s Rival, BFL #34, 1907
• The Football Detective, BFL #62, 1908
• A Slip of the Pen, BFL #107, 1910
• The Hidden Will, BFL #138, 1910
• The Black House, BFL #209, 1912
• Nelson Lee in the Navy, BFL #282, 1914
• The Film Detective, BFL #298, 1915
• On His Majesty’s Service, BFL #301, 1915
• Out To Win, BFL #437, 1918
• Detective-Warder Nelson Lee, BFL #530, 1920

Written by Edwy Searles Brooks

• The Green Triangle, BFL #530, 1920
• The Return of Zingrave, BFL #656, 1923
• The Wonder Craft, BFL #657, 1923

The Nelson Lee Library: 1915–1933[]

Perhaps most famously, Lee featured in his own long-running magazine, The Nelson Lee Library, from 1915 to 1933 which was published in four "series". The first issue of The Nelson Lee Library was published on 12 June 1915, entitled "The Mystery of Limehouse Reach" and written by Sexton Blake writer A. C. Murray. Many other popular Blake writers would pen Lee tales including William Murray Graydon, , George Hamilton Teed, , and Edwy Searles Brooks.

Series 1 ran from 12th June 1915 until 24th April 1926, a total of 568 issues.

Series 2 ran from 1st May 1926 until 18th January 1930, a total of 194 issues.

Series 3 ran from 25th January 1930 until 18th February 1933, a total of 161 issues.

Series 4 ran from 25th February 1933 until 12th August 1933. The Nelson Lee Library then merged with the Gem.

A few issues of note: Maxwell Scott wrote just four adventures for the paper that bore his greatest creation's name, A Miscarriage of Justice (1915), The Convict's Dilemma (1915), In Borrowed Plumes (1915), and When Rogues Fall Out (1916). The Spendthrift was George Hamilton Teed's first Nelson Lee tale. It was followed by Twenty Fathoms Deep Edwy Searles Brooks debut Lee tale. Teed following on the wild success of his Sexton Blake creation Yvonne Cartier, gave Nelson Lee his first female foe: The Black Wolf, a cross-dressing martial arts aristocrat. She would match wits with Lee and Nipper in various locations around the world.^[7] Not to be outdone, Brooks introduced Eileen Dare the female detective in Nelson Lee's Lady Assistant (1916).^[8] She appeared with Lee in 14 adventures. Brooks was instrumental in launching the second phase of Lee's career. In "Nipper at St. Frank's," (Nelson Lee Library #112, 28 July 1917,) Lee and Nipper while fleeing from a Chinese Triad hide out at St. Frank's, a "venerable public school" in the Bellton area of Sussex. When the case at last was solved, Lee joined the faculty as headmaster and Nipper enrolled as a student. The two remained there for the next sixteen years solving mysteries and having advanetures around the world, often with friends and Nipper's classmates.^[3]

Series 1: The Pre-Friardale Cases

Each issue contained a complete detective story.

1. The Mystery of Limehouse Reach by A. C. Murray
2. The Case of the Secret Room by Mark Darren
3. The Clue of the Straw Sailor's Hat by William Murray Graydon
4. The Case of the Interned Detective by A.C. Murray
5. The Great Submarine Mystery by Unknown
6. Stolen Property by Unknown
7. A Miscarriage of Justice by Maxwell Scott
8. The Convict's Dilemma by Maxwell Scott
9. Nelson Lee - Cracksman by William Murray Graydon
10. Shadowed by Two by Mark Darren
11. The War Factory Mystery by Unknown
12. British to the Backbone by Unknown
13. In Borrowed Plumes by Maxwell Scott
14. The King's Bad Bargain by Unknown
15. The Spendthrift by George Hamilton Teed
16. Twenty Fathoms Deep by Edwy Searles Brooks
17. The Black Wolf by George Hamilton Teed
18. The Case of the Duplicate Key by George Hamilton Teed
19. The Secret of the Swamp by George Hamilton Teed
20. Not Guilty by A. C. Murray
21. The Terror of Troone Towers by Edwy Searles Brooks
22. Edges of Steel by George Hamilton Teed
23. The League of the Green Triangle by Edwy Searles Brooks
24. The Case of the Tube of Radium by George Hamilton Teed
25. The Specialist's Last Case by Edwy Searles Brooks
26. The Crystal Urn by George Hamilton Teed
27. The Gold Cavern by Edwy Searles Brooks
28. The Forged Fingerprints by Edwy Searles Brooks
29. The Three Millionaires by Edwy Searles Brooks
30. A Mystery of Venice by George Hamilton Teed
31. The Frozen Man by George Hamilton Teed
32. The Prison Breakers by Edwy Searles Brooks
33. Amazement Island by Edwy Searles Brooks
34. Robbery Wholesale by George Hamilton Teed
35. The Mummy Mystery by Edwy Searles Brooks
36. The Mystery Man Of Lhassa by George Hamilton Teed
37. The House of Fear by Edwy Searles Brooks
38. The President's Peril by Edwy Searles Brooks
39. The Lightning Clue (Jim the Penman) by Edwy Searles Brooks
40. The Red Menace by George Hamilton Teed
41. The Buried Invention by Edwy Searles Brooks
42. The Great Will Forgery by Edwy Searles Brooks
43. The Robbery at Ponder's Bank by George Hamilton Teed
44. The 'Doctored' Racehorse by Edwy Searles Brooks
45. The Forged Marriage Lines by Edwy Searles Brooks
46. The Last of the Genghis by George Hamilton Teed
47. The Ship of Doom by Edwy Searles Brooks
48. When Rogues Fall Out by Maxwell Scott
49. The Forged War Orders by Edwy Searles Brooks
50. The Great Club Raid by Edwy Searles Brooks
51. The Mystery of the Moor by Edwy Searles Brooks
52. At Half Tide by George Hamilton Teed
53. Zingrave's Last Card by Edwy Searles Brooks
54. The Mystery of the Mail Van by Edwy Searles Brooks
55. The Man with Four Identities by George Hamilton Teed
56. The Case of the Fatal Flight by A. S. Hardy
57. Nelson Lee's Lady Assistant by Edwy Searles Brooks
58. The Crimson Disc by George Hamilton Teed
59. The Ribbon of Light by Edwy Searles Brooks
60. The Mystery of the Turret by Edwy Searles Brooks
61. The Golden Boomerang by George Hamilton Teed
62. The Amazing Case of the Lost Explorer by Edwy Searles Brooks
63. The Spectre of Scarcroft by Edwy Searles Brooks
64. The Plague Ship by Edwy Searles Brooks
65. Against The Law by Edwy Searles Brooks
66. The Mystery of the 10.20 Express by Edwy Searles Brooks
67. The Crook by George Hamilton Teed
68. The Great Insurance Swindle by Edwy Searles Brooks
69. The Mystery of Barron Hall by George Hamilton Teed
70. The House in the Hollow by Edwy Searles Brooks
71. The Clue of the Raincoat by George Hamilton Teed
72. The Secret of the Martello Tower by Edwy Searles Brooks
73. Blue Diamonds by George Hamilton Teed
74. The Caves of Silence by Edwy Searles Brooks
75. The Night Before the Trial by Edwy Searles Brooks
76. The Affair of the Nabob's Jewels by Edwy Searles Brooks
77. The House of Hazard by Edwy Searles Brooks
78. A Christmas of Peril by Edwy Searles Brooks
79. The Mystery of the Closed Door by George Hamilton Teed
80. A Mid-Atlantic Mystery by Edwy Searles Brooks
81. The Plantation Mystery by George Hamilton Teed
82. Harlo the Hypnotist by Edwy Searles Brooks
83. The Broken Vase by George Hamilton Teed
84. Tracked to the Trenches by Edwy Searles Brooks
85. The Circle of Terror by Edwy Searles Brooks
86. The Great Air Mystery by George Hamilton Teed
87. Millions at Stake by Edwy Searles Brooks
88. The Yellow Mask by Edwy Searles Brooks
89. A Stubborn Case by George Hamilton Teed
90. Monn the Miser by Edwy Searles Brooks
91. The Mystery of the Footlights by Edwy Searles Brooks
92. The Man Hunters by George Hamilton Teed
93. The Brass-Bound Box by Edwy Searles Brooks
94. The Monk of Montressor by Edwy Searles Brooks
95. The Secret of Crooked Reef by Edwy Searles Brooks
96. Nipper's Note Book by Edwy Searles Brooks
97. The Manor House Mystery by Edwy Searles Brooks
98. Fangs of Steel by Edwy Searles Brooks
99. The Mystery of the Grey Car by Edwy Searles Brooks
100. The Clue of the Twisted Ring by Edwy Searles Brooks
101. Behind the Door by Edwy Searles Brooks
102. The Secret of Melsey Island by Edwy Searles Brooks
103. The Sheriff of Blazing Gulch by Edwy Searles Brooks
104. The Hovering Peril by Edwy Searles Brooks
105. The Ivory Seekers by Edwy Searles Brooks
106. Cast on the Shore by Edwy Searles Brooks
107. Loot by George Hamilton Teed
108. The Kidnapped Stockbroker by George Hamilton Teed
109. The Case of the Crimson Feathers by Unknown
110. The Affair of the Duplicate Door by Edwy Searles Brooks
111. The Yellow Shadow by Edwy Searles Brooks

Other Nelson Lee tales in the Nelson Lee Library

• 370. The Ivory Hand.
• 371 On the Ninth Green
• 372 The Tyneside Mystery.
• 373 The 11-15 p.m. to South Shields.
• 374 The Bank Car Puzzle.
• 375 House of the Clanging Bells, or The Case of the White Lead Substitute.
• 376 Case of the Racing Tipster (Bernhard Hugh).
• 377 The Hollow Club, or Clue of the Gloved Hand,
• 378 The Missing Valet.
• 379/80 The Strange Case of the Thurlingham Hall Robbery (Zenith; J.H. Valda).
• 381 The Case of the Wooden-Legged Sailorma.n (H.M. Lewis).
• 382 The Stencil Clue
• 383 The Kidnapped Goalie.
• 384/5 The Mayfair Mystery (Briscoe).
• 386/7 The Strange Affair at Heather Hall (Briscoe).
• 388 The Case of the Cardiff Contractor (Briscoe).
• 389/90 The Flaming God.
• 391 The Man with the Cut Lip.
• 404/408 The Black Mask (Gil).
• 410/19 The League of the Iron Hand (Briscoe).
• 420/431 The Silver Dwarf (Briscoe).
• 431/41 The Missing Heir (Briscoe).
• 442/45 Night Owl•and the Alliance of 13 (Jones).
• 484/96 Green Triangle and Jim the Penman.
• 497/502 The Hollowdene Manor Mystery (Eileen Dare).
• 503/12 The Invisible Grip (Zingrava).

The Union Jack: 1916-1920[]

In all these tales, Nelson Lee and Nipper team up with Sexton Blake and Tinker.

• In Double Harness, Union Jack #688, 1916 by Robert Murray Graydon

These tales were written by Edwy Searles Brooks

• The Mount-Stonham Murder Mystery, Union Jack #768, 1918
• The Mystic Cypher, Union Jack #771, 1918
• The Dual Detectives, Union Jack #774, 1918
• The Flashlight Clue, Union Jack #777, 1918
• The Case of the American Soldier, Union Jack #781, 1918
• The Crooks of Rapid Hollow, Union Jack #784, 1918
• The Teror of Trevis World, Union Jack #786, 1918
• The Studded Footprints, Union Jack #788, 1918
• The Case of the Hollow Dagger, Union Jack #793, 1918
• Waldo the Wonder-man, Union Jack #794, 1918
• Hoodwinked or the Diamonds of Zamkala, Union Jack #796, 1919
• The Clue of the Frozen Knife, Union Jack #796, 1919
• The Shanghaied Detective, Union Jack #801, 1919
• The Case of the Stacey Rubies, Union Jack #805, 1919
• The Great Spiritualism Case, Union Jack #817, 1919
• The Mystery of the Gnarled Oak, Union Jack #859, 1920
• The Mystery of the 9.12 Express, Union Jack #870, 1920

The Sexton Blake Library: 1919-1921[]

In all these two tales, Nelson Lee and Nipper team up with Sexton Blake and Tinker.

• The Bathchair Mystery, The Sexton Blake Library #80, 1919 by Andrew Murray
• The Valley of Fear, The Sexton Blake Library #190, 1921 by Francis Addington Symonds

The Detective Library: 1919-1921[]

The stories were predominantly written by Scott and Edwy Searles Brooks.

• The Mystery of Torgreave Hall, 1919 (reprinting of The Jewel Thief)
• The Kidnapped Engineer, 1919
• The Vanishing Picture, 1919
• The Jaguar's Master, 1919
• The House with the Crooked Window
• The Case of the Horned Frog
• Sons of Fire
• The Babylonian Brick
• The Swinbury Poultry Killing Mystery
• The Missing Solicitor of Bedford Row
• The Bogus Butler of Harlech
• The Case of Dr. Mau-Ling-Su
• Jim the Penman series
• Brotherhood of the Five Fingers, 1920
• Nipper at St. Ninian's, 1920

The Nuggett Library: 1921[]

These tales were predominantly written by Andrew Murray. Many of these feature Sexton Blake foes and may be rewrites of Blake tales.

• 45 White Man's Secret (featuring Kew & Carlac)
• 46 Man in the Copper Casket (featuring John Lawless )
• 47 The Bridge Builders (featuring Trouble Nantucket)
• 48 The Sign of the Red Claw (featuring Chulda Ghan)
• 49 The Amazing Schoolboy (featuring Timothy Tudmr)
• 50 Case of The Two Impostors ard Nipper's Wager (featuring Kew & Carlac)
• 51 The Outsiders (featuring Langley Mostyn)
• 52 Rogues of the River (featuring Thames Police)
• 53 Expelled from St. Frank's (featuring Watson & Harrington)
• 54 The Sign of the Shepherd's Crook
• 56 Meshes of Mystery
• 58 The Case of the Heavyweight Champion (featuring John Lawless)
• 62 Lost - A Football Team (featuring Lawless)
• 66 The Case of the Arab Footballer (featuring John Lawless).
• 68 Nelson Lee in India, or The Rajah's Secret
• 70 The Treasury Notes Mystery

Lee's associates[]

In the early years of his career Lee worked intermittently with the French detective Jean Moreau.^[2] Later in the first years of the Nelson Lee Library he worked with 'girl detective' Eileen Dare. He had a bloodhound named Rajah, and later another named Wolf. ^[9]

Lord Dorrimore or Dorrie, a somewhat eccentirc millionaire, was one of the most popular characters to appear in the Nelson Lee Library. He often travelled with Umlosi, a mighty African warrior. The two made their first appearnce in The Ivory Seekers and reappeared throughout Lee's tenure at St. Franks.^[10]

Lee collaborated with Sexton Blake on a number of occasions. The two worked together on The Winged Terror, penned by Maxwell Scott, a tale that ran in issues #329-336 of Boys' Herald in 1909. Later other authors paired the two in the pages of the Union Jack. In Double Harness, (Union Jack #683) written by Robert Murray Graydon saw the two working against each other to solve a case, while Waldo the Wonder Man, (Union Jack #794,) saw them team up to capture one of Blake's most beloved foes.

Lee's enemies[]

Nelson Lee had a fine rogues gallery of supervillains.^[9] Some of the most famous included:

Jim the Penman (created by Edwy Searles Brooks), was the nickname of Douglas James Sutcliffe, a solicitor turned forger and a master of disguise. One never knew where he was going to turn up next and his skill with the pen was only equalled by his skill at disguise, his audacity and brilliant sang froid, his coolness in emergency and his never-ceasing efforts to pull off some spectacular coup.

Professor Cyrus Zingrave (created by Edwy Searles Brooks), the Monster of Moat Hollow, a Napoleon of Crime.

The Black Wolf (created by George Hamilton Teed) Lee's greatest female opponent.

Dr. Mortimer Crane (created by George Hamilton Teed) a brain and nerve specialist whose talents had been diverted to wrong doing. He was a master of disguise and one of Lee's most sinister and cunning opponents.

He fought criminal organisations like the League of the Green Triangle, the Circle of Terror and the Fu Chang Tong and also matched wits against legendary Sexton Blake foes Zenith the Albino (created by ), Dr. Huxton Rymer (created by George Hamilton Teed), and deadly duo Count Ivor Carlac and Professor Francis Kew created by .^[9]

Howard Baker collections[]

• The Barring-Out at St. Frank's! by Edwy Searles Brooks
• Expelled Incorporating The Secret Societies of St. Frank's & The 'Death' of Walter Church by Edwy Searles Brooks
• The Haunted School Incorporating the entire Ezra Quirke series by Edwy Searles Brooks

New collections[]

• Sexton Blake: The Early Years (2020) features the first 5 Nelson Lee cases by Maxwell Scott, includes Christmas Clues the first Nelson Lee/Sexton Blake co-appearance.
• Sexton Blake: Friends and Allies (2020) features In Double Harness by Robert Murray Graydon
• Sexton Blake & Nelson Lee (2021) by Edwy Searles Brooks
• Sexton Blake: The Claire Delisle Files (2022) features The Valley of Fear by Francis Addington Symonds
• Nelson Lee: The Black Wolf Files (2020) by George Hamilton Teed
• Nelson Lee: The Scott Files (2021) by Maxwell Scott. Includes Birds of Prey, The Silver Dwarf, and The Missing Heir.

References[]

Further reading[]

• Turner, ES (1948) Boys Will be Boys History of British boys' weeklies from Victorian times up to the 1950s.
• Andrew, Lucy (2017) The Boy Detective in Early British Children's Literature. Palgrave. page 96
• Watt & Green (2017) The Alternative Sherlock Holmes: Pastiches, Parodies and Copies

External links[]

• The Nelson Lee Library at the Friardale Website
• Nelson Lee and St. Frank's School
• Nelson Lee at the Encyclopedia of Pulp Heroes
• Nelson Lee stories by Edwy Searles Brooks
• Nelson Lee Bibliography at The FictionMags Index
• Issues of The Nelson Lee Library at ComicBooksPlus