(1863-1921) Australian-born writer, in New Zealand 1873-1885, afterwards in the UK; the son of Henry Crocker Marriott Watson. His family surname was simply Watson, but both he and his father used the fuller name in honour of the distinguished Marriott family, with whom a relationship was claimed. Although some of his stories, assembled conveniently in The Devil of the Marsh; and Other Stories (coll 2004) edited by James Doig (1965- ), have a remote sf association, most of his short work of genre interest is fantasy, though only two collections, Diogenes of London and Other Fantasies (coll 1893) and The Heart of Miranda and Other Stories: Being Mostly Winter Tales (coll 1898), have substantial fantastic content. Marriott Watson's first novel, Marahuna: A Romance (1888) is sf; the eponymous female – clearly based on H Rider Haggard's Ayesha, who first appears in She: A History of Adventure (1886) – has been extracted from a fiery ring in Antarctica, and may well come from the interior of the Earth (> Hollow Earth). After causing romantic havoc, she dies (it would seem) in another volcano. The Princess Xenia (1899) and Alise of Astra (1910) are Ruritanian romances. [JC]
Henry Brereton Marriott Watson
born Caulfield, Melbourne, Victoria: 20 December 1863
died Shere, Surrey: 30 October 1921
works
- Marahuna: A Romance (London: Longmans and Co, 1888) [hb/]
- Diogenes of London and Other Fantasies (London: Methuen, 1893) [coll: hb/]
- The Heart of Miranda and Other Stories: Being Mostly Winter Tales (London: John Lane the Bodley Head, 1898) [coll: hb/]
- The Princess Xenia (New York: Harper, 1899) [hb/]
- Alise of Astra (London: Methuen, 1910) [hb/]
- The Big Fish (Boston: Little, Brown, 1912) [hb/]
- Aftermath (London: Chapman and Hall, 1919) [coll: hb/]
- The Devil of the Marsh; and Other Stories (Ashcroft, British Columbia: Ash-Tree Press, 2004), edited by James Doig [coll: hb/Keith Minnion]
links
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