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Notes
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Editor's note in The Australian Journal, 4 November 1865, p.156 stated that 'Memoirs of an Australian Police Officer' would alternate in the weekly issues of the journal with the series 'Adventures of an Australian Mounted Trooper' and that 'these naratives will be of the most spirited description, and embrace the most extraordinary adventures and perils that have characterised the history of the colonies'.
Stories in these series were published anonymously but the editor's note states that they are 'from the respective authors of 'The Shepherd's Hut ' and 'The Golden [i.e. Stolen] Specimens'", implying different authors. Some of the stories are attributed by Lucy Sussex to Borlase ( see Introduction to Mary Helena Fortune), and some were reprinted in Borlase's 1867 collection The Night Fossickers. However, there are suggestions that Borlase may have plagiarised Fortune's work or that her work was used to cover a shortfall in Borlase's writing schedule.
For a full discussion of this series, its authorship and the literary relationship between Mary Fortune and Borlase see 'Whodunit? : Literary Forensics and the Crime Writing of James Skip Borlase and Mary Fortune.'
Includes
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The Duel in the Bush
1865
single work
short story
— Appears in: The Australian Journal , 11 November vol. 1 no. 11 1865; (p. 172) -
Cambromatta Station : A Sticking-Up and Shooting Down Adventure
1865
single work
short story
crime
— Appears in: The Australian Journal , 16 December vol. 1 no. 16 1865; (p. 248-251) The Night Fossickers and Other Australian Tales of Peril and Adventure 1867; (p. 59-75) The Anthology of Colonial Australian Adventure Fiction 2011; (p. 24-37) Narrator and fellows are assisted by young beauty in rescuing her father from bushrangers. (PB) -
A Struggle for Life
1866
single work
short story
— Appears in: The Australian Journal , 3 February vol. 1 no. 23 1866; (p. 361-364) Tale of a wife's murder of her husband on the diggings at Maryborough and her capture, set during the first 'rush'. (PB) -
The Stolen Specimen
1865
single work
short story
crime
— Appears in: The Australian Journal , 14 October vol. 1 no. 7 1865; (p. 106-108) -
Pursuing and Pursued
1865
single work
short story
crime
— Appears in: The Australian Journal , 9 December vol. 1 no. 15 1865; (p. 235-237) The Night Fossickers and Other Australian Tales of Peril and Adventure 1867; (p. 44-58) A Traitor, Aborigines, bushrangers and mounted policeman in 1853 - Melbourne, the bush, Mt Koronth, Marabool. (PB)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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A Woman of Mystery
2001
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Crime Factory , no. 2 2001; (p. 15-16) Mystery Scene , no. 75 2002; (p. 24-25) -
Whodunit? : Literary Forensics and the Crime Writing of James Skipp Borlase and Mary Fortune
1997
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Bibliographical Society of Australia and New Zealand Bulletin , Second Quarter vol. 21 no. 2 1997; (p. 73-106) This article comprises two sections - I. The State of the Case, by Lucy Sussex, and II. The Pattern of Internal Evidence, by John Burrows. Part I discusses the historical and bibliographical evidence of authorship of the two crime series, 'Memoirs of an Australian Police Officer' and 'Adventures of an Australian Mounted Trooper', first published in The Australian Journal in the 1860s. Part II reports on a computer analysis of selected stories from these series and puts forward evidence relating to the authorship of these stories by Mary Fortune, possible collaboration between Fortune and James Skipp Borlase, and alleged plagiarism by Borlase. The analysis of results is accompanied by detailed tables and graphs.
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Whodunit? : Literary Forensics and the Crime Writing of James Skipp Borlase and Mary Fortune
1997
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Bibliographical Society of Australia and New Zealand Bulletin , Second Quarter vol. 21 no. 2 1997; (p. 73-106) This article comprises two sections - I. The State of the Case, by Lucy Sussex, and II. The Pattern of Internal Evidence, by John Burrows. Part I discusses the historical and bibliographical evidence of authorship of the two crime series, 'Memoirs of an Australian Police Officer' and 'Adventures of an Australian Mounted Trooper', first published in The Australian Journal in the 1860s. Part II reports on a computer analysis of selected stories from these series and puts forward evidence relating to the authorship of these stories by Mary Fortune, possible collaboration between Fortune and James Skipp Borlase, and alleged plagiarism by Borlase. The analysis of results is accompanied by detailed tables and graphs. -
A Woman of Mystery
2001
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Crime Factory , no. 2 2001; (p. 15-16) Mystery Scene , no. 75 2002; (p. 24-25)