John Henry Macartney Abbott was born on 26 December 1874, in Haydonton, New South Wales, the eldest son of Sir Joseph Palmer Abbott, and Matilda Elizabeth, née Macartney. His father was Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. Abbott was educated at The King’s School, Parramatta, where he was part of the 1892 Premiership winning First XV (Waddy 94). He later attended classes at the University of Sydney. In 1900 he served in the Boer War, using his experiences to write Tommy Cornstalk in 1902. He then worked as a journalist in England, writing articles and a number of books. He returned to Australia in 1909 and began a forty year long career in Australia, writing hundreds of articles, series and serials, for publications including the Bulletin and the Lone Hand (Australian Dictionary of Biography 2). His novels were mostly historical novels set in colonial New South Wales. In addition to Dogsnose he published a book of short stories about the King’s School, The King’s School. Despite his prolific writing career he experienced financial difficulties, becoming bankrupt in 1923, but then in 1924 his financial situation was eased with an annuity from his uncle, W. E. Abbott (ADB 2). He married fellow author and journalist, Katherine Wallace on 2 August 1926 in Sydney (ADB 2). They had no children. Ill health forced him to stop writing in 1946, and he died from vascular disease on 12 August 1953 at Rydalmere Mental Hospital (ADB 2). His most significant work was Tommy Cornstalk, which presents a view of Australian soldiers which preceded the Anzac legend but contained many aspects later associated with Australian soldiers (ADB 2).
Links
Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition: Abbott, John Henry (Macartney) (1874 - 1953) by B. G. Andrews.
Dogsnose. Sydney: Cornstalk Publishing Company, 1928. 237 pages. Illustrated 'Edgar A. Holloway', b/w frontis. & 2 b/w illus.
Dogsnose details the adventures of fourteen-year-old schoolboy, Bill Carfax, otherwise known as Dogsnose, because of his extreme sense of smell, when he teams up with a detective to track down a couple of criminals during the school holidays. Dogsnose is representative of the trend of 1920s and 1930s boys’ school stories to introduce adventure and mystery plots. Like two other boys’ school stories, Blue Brander, and The Gang on Wheels, Abbott sets the adventure part of the story mostly within the holidays. When Bill arrived at Birmingham House School as a new boy, he was christened with his nickname in the school’s traditional initiation ceremony in the Parramatta River. A master’s room is burgled a week before the start of the holidays and a valuable antique gold cup is stolen. Bill initially trails the burglars to the Parramatta River and the Head calls in the Police. Detective Marlinspike asks Billy to team up with him in the holidays to track the burglars because of his amazing sensory powers. Billy accompanies Marlinspike as he interviews ‘Conkey Ike’, a prisoner, and they head off to the Newcastle Steelworks to track down a suspect, Sam Considine. The duo pursue them to Port Stephens eventually capturing Sam and Ikey. Abbott effectively portrays the search for the criminals against various New South Wales north coastal locations. While many British boys’ school stories used schoolboy detectives as characters, Dogsnose varies this with the teaming up of a detective and a schoolboy on the case.
Dogsnose details the adventures of fourteen-year-old schoolboy, Bill Carfax, otherwise known as Dogsnose, because of his extreme sense of smell, when he teams up with a detective to track down a couple of criminals during the school holidays. Dogsnose is representative of the trend of 1920s and 1930s boys’ school stories to introduce adventure and mystery plots. Like two other boys’ school stories, Blue Brander, and The Gang on Wheels, Abbott sets the adventure part of the story mostly within the holidays. When Bill arrived at Birmingham House School as a new boy, he was christened with his nickname in the school’s traditional initiation ceremony in the Parramatta River. A master’s room is burgled a week before the start of the holidays and a valuable antique gold cup is stolen. Bill initially trails the burglars to the Parramatta River and the Head calls in the Police. Detective Marlinspike asks Billy to team up with him in the holidays to track the burglars because of his amazing sensory powers. Billy accompanies Marlinspike as he interviews ‘Conkey Ike’, a prisoner, and they head off to the Newcastle Steelworks to track down a suspect, Sam Considine. The duo pursue them to Port Stephens eventually capturing Sam and Ikey. Abbott effectively portrays the search for the criminals against various New South Wales north coastal locations. While many British boys’ school stories used schoolboy detectives as characters, Dogsnose varies this with the teaming up of a detective and a schoolboy on the case.
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