Dorrington, Albert
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.
(?1874-1953) UK journalist and author who lived in Australia circa 1890-1907, and was active as a journalist from the late 1890s, beginning to publish fiction soon after, often focusing on Aborigines and immigrants (he had more sympathy for the former). He is perhaps best known outside Australia for The Radium Terrors (January-August 1911 The Scrap Book [US], 1911 Pall Mall [UK]; 1912), which combines a Yellow Peril threat – the Japanese villain, Dr Tsarka, prefigures Sax Rohmer's Dr Fu-Manchu – with the then widespread fascination for the powers of radium (see Elements). The plot unmemorably details a conspiracy on the part of the former to use the latter. The Half-God (1933) features super-radium. Two collections, Castro's Last Sacrament and Other Stories (coll 1900) and Stories to the Master (coll 1926) include some fantastic content. [JC/JE]
Albert Dorrington
born London: 27 September 1874 [other birth dates, including 1868 and 1871, have been suggested]
died Ruislip, Middlesex: 9 April 1953
works
- Our Lady of the Leopards (London: Mills and Boon, 1911) [hb/]
- The Radium Terrors (London: Eveleigh Nash, 1912) [first appeared January-August 1911 The Scrap Book [US]: hb/]
- The Half-God (London: Wright and Brown, 1933) [hb/]
collections
- Castro's Last Sacrament and Other Stories (Sydney: Bulletin Newspaper Co, 1900) [coll: hb/]
- Stories to the Master (London: Mills and Boon, 1926) [coll: hb/]
links
previous versions of this entry