Margery Allingham Society

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News

18^th December 2012
Marianne van Hoeven: We are very sad to announce the death of Marianne van Hoeven on 15th December 2012. Marianne was a long time member of the Margery Allingham Society; a committee member since 2001 and Honorary Secretary 2002 – 2008. She was an expert on Margery Allingham’s life and works and had an enviable collection of the various magazines and papers Margery wrote for. Marianne put a great deal of effort into ensuring the Society ran smoothly and was the chief architect of the enormously successful Centenary celebrations in 2004. We miss her expertise and enthusiasm greatly.
4^th December 2012
Subscription Increase: Running costs for the Society have increased steadily of late, particularly with the substantial leap in postal charges. Accordingly, it has become necessary to increase our subscription. It was unanimously agreed at the A.G.M. that we raise the subscription to £20. The updated list of rates can be found here
Events for 2013: Imogen Robertson, author of the Crowther and Westerman series of historical mysteries, will be our guest at the Birthday lunch on 18^th May. On the 13^th July we will be celebrating the 25th birthday of the Society with lunch and a talk on the Maxwell March books: Other Man's Danger, Rogues' Holiday and The Shadow in the House. Our October event will be a Tiger in the Smoke walk around Margery's Paddington and Bayswater.
Website Updates: Updated the contact details, subscription rates, membership form, forthcoming events, past events and added Glueworks 31.
8^th July 2012
Website Updates: Updated the contact details, Forthcoming Events, Past Events and added Glue Works 27, 28, 29 and 30 and details of the latest Bottle Street Gazette.
11^th April 2012
Pam Bruxner: We are very sad to announce that Pam Bruxner died on 28^th March 2012. She was an invaluable member of the Society - apart from putting together the Bottle Street Gazette twice a year and a stint as membership secretary, she had an encyclopedic knowledge of the Campion books and was a tireless ambassador for the Society. She will be greatly missed.
12^th June 2011
"Look to the Lady" - The life and crime of Margery Allingham: Thursday July 7 2011, 7 - 9 p.m. Roger Johnson talks about Margery Allingham and Albert Campion at this special event at the Essex Police Museum, HQ, Chelmsford, CM2 6DA. Admission £3 (tea and coffee included). All profits go to the Museum which is a registered charity. To book, phone 01245 457 150 or email museum@essex.pnn.police.uk.
4^th June 2011
Website Updates: The website that hosted the picture galleries has gone into liquidation so all of the links have been removed. They will be back but it will take some time to set them up again.
1^st June 2011
Committee Changes: After four years in the post of Treasurer and many more on the committee, Paula Cooze has retired. John Sweetman has also taken a well-deserved retirement from the committee. We thank them both for all their hard work for the Society.
New Treasurer: Mary Anderson has taken on the role of Hon. Treasurer and we welcome her on to the committee.
U.S. Member Liaison: Susan Peters has also decided to retire from co-ordinating the U.S. members' payments. This means that we will be dropping the U.S. dollar rate -- it rarely bears any resemblance to the U.K. subscription -- and we will be looking at alternative ways to pay.
Postage Increases: Due to the increases to postage rates in April, we have had to review the Europe and Rest of World subscription rates and the postal charges for sending books.
Website Updates: Updated the contact details, subscription details and the the membership form, Forthcoming Events, Past Events, In Print and Prices, removed a couple of dead links from the Tolleshunt D'Arcy page and added Glue Works #26 and details of the latest Bottle Street Gazette.
3^rd March 2011
Launch Day - The Oaken Heart 4^th edition: The 4^th edition of The Oaken Heart was launched at the opening event of the Essex Book Festival. The event was broadcast live on the Dave Monk show on BBC Radio Essex and Julia Jones was interviewed about Margery Allingham and The Oaken Heart. The Oaken Heart can be ordered from your local book shop or internet bookstores.
26^th January 2011
Richard Cheffiins 1941 - 2011: We sadly announce the death of Richard Cheffins, long-time committee member and dedicated researcher into the topography of Margery Allingham's novels. There will be an obituary in the Spring 2011 Bottle Street Gazette.
21^st November 2010
The Oaken Heart republished: The Margery Allingham Society and Golden Duck are republishing The Oaken Heart. This non-fiction account of how the village of Tolleshunt D'Arcy faced up to World War II is hard to find at a reasonable price. The new edition will published in time for the Essex Book Festival event to be held at Tolleshunt D'Arcy in March 2011.
Membership subscription increase: Due to the increased cost of printing and postage, we have regretfully had to increase the membership fee. A UK single membership is now £15. Full details of all membership options are here.
Website Updates: Updated Membership, The Membership Form, Forthcoming Events, Past Events and added Glue Works #25.
4^th July 2010
New French Editions: New French language editions of some of Margery Allingham's books have been released. Cercueils et Cie (More Work for the Undertaker) and an omnibus La maison des morts étranges: Et autres enquètes d'Albert Campion which contains four novels: Crime à Black Dudley (The Crime at Black Dudley) 1929; Au coeur du labyrinthe (Mystery Mile) 1930; Jusqu'à la lie (Look to the Lady) 1931 and La Maison des morts étranges (Police at the Funeral) 1931 and four short stories: Le Chapeau magique; La Bonne Formule; La Maison fantôme and Chanson de gestes.
Website Updates: Updated Forthcoming Events, Past Events, In Print and added details of the latest Bottle Street Gazette.
4^th May 2010
Cheapjack Published: The new edition of Cheapjack by Philip Allingham was published on 4^th March 2010 and is available from Golden Duck. Cheapjack "being the true history of a young man's adventures as a fortune-teller, grafter, knocker-worker, and mounted pitcher on the market-places and fairgrounds of a modern but still romantic England" is Philip Allingham's memoir of his life on the road.
Website Updates: Updated Forthcoming Events, Past Events, In Print and added Glue Works #24. Amended the Site Index.
31^st January 2010
Cheapjack to be republished on 23^rd March 2010: Originally published in 1934, Cheapjack is Philip Allingham's account of the years he spent travelling around the fairs of Britain, earning money variously as a fortune teller, grafter, knocker-worker and mounted pitcher. Golden Duck, who republished Margery's biography last year, are reprinting this 1934 classic by her brother.; This new edition has the original text, an introduction by Francis Wheen on slumming in the 1930s, Vanessa Toulmin of Sheffield University putting Cheapjack in the context of the secretive society of showmen, hawkers and Gypsy travellers, Julia Jones on Phil, the Allinghams and Margery's involvement in the book, and over 30 photographs from the National Fairground Archive, The Margery Allingham Society and other sources.; Francis Wheen and Julia Jones will be giving a talk on the book at the Essex Book Festival on 23^rd March. See Forthcoming Events for details.
Programme for 2010 Announced: The programme of events for 2010 was announced in From the Glueworks #23. We are happy to announce a weekend convention in Ipswich to explore Margery's suffolk locations. Other events include the postponed trip to the Regent Street Polytechnic and the AGM and birthday lunch. Full details are in Forthcoming Events
Website Updates: Added a photo of Joyce Allingham. Updated Forthcoming Events, Past Events and added Glue Works #23. Added details of the latest Bottle Street Gazette. Amended the Site Index.
27^th September 2009
Regent Street Polytechnic event postponed: It has been decided to postpone this event until next Spring. The University are considering running a course module on Margery Allingham and would prefer the performance to take place at the end of the module. Instead, there will be a lunch in Ealing followed by a brief visit to the site of Margery's birth.
Website Updates: Added links to photo galleries in Past Events. Added the recently released audio books to the currently available page. Updated Forthcoming Events, Past Events and added Glue Works #22. Amended the Site Index.
12^th June 2009
Magersfontein Lugg: A Celebration: Subsequent to the celebration of Mr. Lugg in March, a 36 page booklet has been produced containing all Mr. Lugg's finest moments from the corpus. The text presented by John Hines and Barry Pike has been augmented by extracts from books not included in the original programme.
Website Updates: Updated Forthcoming Events, Past Events and added Glue Works #21. Updated the Site Index. Added details for Bottle Street Gazette #27
12^th May 2009
Retirement of Hon. Secretary: Marianne van Hoeven has announced her retirement from the position of Honorary Secretary to the Margery Allingham Society with effect from the AGM on 23rd May 2009. She has devoted many years to the Society; her valuable contributions include the Centenary Year. A presentation will be made at the AGM. We thank her for her work and are very pleased that she will still be contributing as a committee member.
New Secretary: Josephine Hesslewood has taken up the baton as Secretary. She has been a member of the Society for several years and has served on the committee. She is a committed supporter of the Society and is a regular at Society events.
The Last Campion Novel: Pip Youngman Carter finished Cargo of Eagles after Margery's death and wrote two further Campion books, Mr Campion's Farthing and Mr Campion's Falcon. Before his death in 1969 he started the final Albert Campion novel of which 5 chapters exist. The first chapter appeared in the Autumn 2008 Bottle Street Gazette and the rest will appear in the Autumn 2009 edition.
Website Updates: Amended the contact details for the Society. Updated Forthcoming Events and added Glue Works 20. Updated the Site Index. Corrected details for Bottle Street Gazette #25
6^th April 2009
Revised Biography now available: Julia Jones launched the revised edition of the biography with a party at Foyles. It has a new title, new author's name, new photos and new material.; The book is available from Julia's website Golden Duck (UK) Ltd or via the Society.; The Independent and Daily Telegraph have carried reviews.
Website Updates: Added links to Julia Jones' site and Herbert Allingham page.; Added details of the Autumn 2008 issue of the Bottle Street Gazette.; Updated forthcoming and past events pages, and the currently available page.
11^th January 2009
Website Updates: Tidied up the currently available for purchase page.
1^st January 2009
Second edition of biography to be published: Julia Jones (formerly Thorogood) is publishing a revised edition of her biography of Margery Allingham next year. Further information and ordering details will be announced as they become available.
Audiobooks: Hachette Audio have announced 5 more audiobooks to be released in 2009: The Case of the Late Pig (2 April 2009); Police at the Funeral (7 May 2009); Hide My Eyes (2 Jul 2009); The China Governess (3 Sep 2009); Death of a Ghost (5 Nov 2009).
2009 Programme: The programme for 2009 has been decided. See Forthcoming Events and Glue Works 19
Website Updates: Two new pages detailing books, media and other items that are currently available for purchase and A Bottle Street Miscellany; Added details of European and Rest of World subscriptions to Membership details. Expanded the bibliography, adding short stories and alternate titles. Updated Forthcoming Events and added Glue Works 19. Removed some links that no longer work.
30^th August 2008
More Work for the Undertaker Audiobook released September 2008: Hachette Audio have released the audiobook of More Work for the Undertaker. Read by Philip Franks, this is an abridged version on 3 CDs.
Website Updates: Updated forthcoming and past events with details of the Fashion in Shrouds and More Work for the Undertaker events. Uploaded Glue Works 18
15^th June 2008
New Audiobook released 12^th June 2008: Traitor's Purse was released by Hachette Audio on 12^th June 2008. This is an abridged version on 3 CDs read by Philip Franks. Available from Amazon UK and other retail outlets. Other audiobooks available are Mystery Mile, Sweet Danger, The Fashion in Shrouds and Tiger in the Smoke and The Beckoning Lady. More Work for the Undertaker is coming in September 2008.
Website Updates: Updated forthcoming and past events with details of the Birthday Lunch and the July Fashion in Shrouds event.
6^th April 2008
Website Updates: The website is now in Campion colours. The logo is based on Pip Youngman Carter's drawing of Albert Campion.; Updated forthcoming and past events and uploaded latest Glue Works.
1^st January 2008
Website Updates: Added details of latest Bottle Street Gazette. Added transcript of first "taster" edition of the newsletter from 1988.
29^th December 2007
Bottle Street Gazette: Unfortunately some Bottle Street Gazettes are missing pages 25, 26, 35 and 36. If your copy is affected contact us for a replacement by emailing the membership secretary memsec@margeryallingham.org.uk or phoning Pam Bruxner on 01797 222363.
Programme for 2008 confirmed: The programme for 2008 has been confirmed. See Forthcoming Events and the latest Glue Works for details.
8^th December 2007
Website Updates: Added report on Musical Evening. Added links to Jeremy Dowlen's Allingham review, and Margery Allingham pages at Librarything and Wikipedia.
27^th August 2007
Website Updates: Completed index of Bottle Street Gazette. Added A Campion Commentary: 5. Sweet Danger to Gazette articles.
4^th August 2007
Programme for 2008: The programme for 2008 has been planned. See Forthcoming Events and the latest Glue Works for details.
Allingham Court: A new housing development in Colchester is to commemorate Margery Allingham and Dorothy L. Sayers with Allingham Court and Sayers Court. Margery has two other roads named after her: Allingham Place in Tolleshunt D'Arcy, where she lived for many years, and Allingham Close in the Poets Corner area near her birthplace in West Ealing.
Three is a Lucky Number: Martin Jarvis read this story of Margery's on 13^th July on BBC Radio 4.
Times Literary Supplement 22/6/7: The TLS carried a page and a third review of 3 of the newly-republished novels: The Beckoning Lady, More Work for the Undertaker and Police at the Funeral. The writer, Trev Broughton, obviously knows Allingham's works well and the review was illustrated by a drawing of Marge.
Website Updates: Forthcoming Events have been moved to a separate page. Added latest From the Glueworks.
27^th May 2007
New Treasurer and Membership Secretary: Rosemary Costello has had to retire from the committee. We thank Rosemary for all her hard work. Paula Cooze and Lesley Simpson have taken over as Treasurer and Membership Secretary respectively. New addresses are on the Contacts page.
1^st May 2007
Website Updates: Added pages for Bottle Street Gazette, Albert Memorial. Updated menu and added logo based on Pip Youngman Carters drawing of Albert Campion.
17^th March 2007
Wheaton Convention: The Marion E Wade Center and The Dorothy L. Sayers Society welcome all members of the Margery Allingham Society to apply to attend the DLS Society's annual Convention to be held at Wheaton College, Illinois June 13-17 2007.; UK or European applicants contact Christopher Dean, Rose Cottage, Malthouse Lane, Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex, BN6 9JY. Tel: +44 (0)1273 833444, Fax: +44 (0)1273 835988. US applicants contact the Marion E Wade Center.; The full programme for the Wheaton Convention is now available.
Centenary Publication: Margery Allingham: 100 Years of a Great Mystery Writer is still available from the Society by emailing info@margeryallingham.org.uk or direct from the publishers Lucas Books. Also Waterstones have both the hardback and the paperback.
10^th December 2006
Allingham Archive at the University of Essex: The Allingham archive has been placed on permanent deposit at the University of Essex. The collection will be available to scholars and society members as soon as it is sorted and catalogued.
Cambridge Weekend: The Cambridge weekend was a great success and enjoyed by all who attended it. Full report from the Bottle Street Gazette reproduced here.
Queen of Crime – Guardian Article: On 19th August 2006, the Guardian had a full page article on Margery Allingham by Jane Stevenson. "...the Allinghams effortlessly top the list of Books Most Often Nicked (I stole half of them from my mother in the first place..." The full article can be read here.
D'Arcy House for sale: The house where Margery Allingham lived from 1935 to 1966, D'Arcy House in Tolleshunt D'Arcy, has been up for sale for £850,000. The agent was Fenn Wright of Colchester.
New Membership Secretary: Rosemary Costello has taken over as Membership Secretary from Pam Bruxner. We thank Pam for all her hard work. Pam will still produce the Bottle Street Gazette.
Reprints of Margery's novels: The latest releases from Vintage in the UK:; The Beckoning Lady, More Work for the Undertaker and Police at the Funeral will be available on 7th March 2007. Mystery Mile, Sweet Danger, The Case of the Late Pig, Flowers for the Judge, The Fashion in Shrouds, Traitor's Purse, Coroner's Pidgin, The Tiger in the Smoke and The Margery Allingham Omnibus are in print.; In the US, Felony and Mayhem have also started reprinting in original publication order. The Crime at Black Dudley, and Mystery Mile in June 2006, Look to the Lady in December 2006 and Police at the Funeral in February 2007
29^th January 5
Campion TV Series rebroadcast: Living TV appear to have taken over the repeats of the TV series starring Peter Davison, Lysette Anthony and Brian Glover. Keep an eye on the schedules.
22^nd November 2004
Chris Willis 1960-2004 Chris Willis: Chris Willis, who maintained this site since March 2004, greatly expanding it and keeping it up to date, died in hospital on the morning of 11 November 2004. She had been making a valiant recovery since an operation in August, but her progress had met with some reversals. Typically she did not give up without a fight, and it is somehow fitting that, a lifelong pacifist and ferocious worker for peace, her life should have ended on Armistice Day.
Her partner JP says: "Do not dwell on the moment of death. Think instead of the days you spent together, and remember the good times."
The Independent has printed an extensive obituary for Chris.
Margery Allingham's Centenary: The centenary of Margery Allingham's birth was celebrated throughout 2004 with events such as the publication of the festschrift Margery Allingham: 100 Years of a Great Mystery Writer; the unveiling of a plaque on the Allingham's London home; the Birthday Lunch; the exhibition of material from the archive at the Barbican, Bury St. Edmonds and Chelmsford; the Crime Scene walk around Bloomsbury and Piccadilly; the weekend convention and various talks. Full details here.
Margery Allingham Festschrift: Margery Allingham: 100 Years of a Great Mystery Writer is now available. A celebratory collection of essays in appreciation of the writer, including contributions from many distinguished writers and members of the society. Published by Lucas Books at £12.99 for the paperback (ISBN 1903797-35-7) or £14.99 (ISBN 1903797-36-7) hardback. On sale at bookshops, online retailers and at Society events throughout the year. The book was launched in London on 20 May 2004. Please encourage your local bookshop to stock it.
Reading Group: The AlbertCampion reading group discusses an Allingham novel each month. To join, go to http://yahoogroups.com/group/albertcampion/. This group is an offshoot of the Allingham discussion group at http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/allingham/.
Margery Allingham Place, Tolleshunt D'Arcy Photo © Chris Willis Margery Allingham Place: A new housing development in Allingham's home village of Tolleshunt D'Arcy has been named Margery Allingham Place in honour of the author. The development is close to Allingham's home, D'Arcy House.