Mary Fortune is a true woman of mystery. Her series of more
than five hundred short detective stories was published in the
Australian Journal
and spanned more than forty years. At the time hers was the longest-running
series in crime fiction. She also pioneered the case book form of writing
detective stories, which was later used by Conan Doyle in his Sherlock Holmes
stories. Seven of her stories were reprinted as THE DETECTIVE’S ALBUM: TALES OF
THE AUSTRALIAN POLICE (1871), which was the first book of detective fiction
published in Australia.
Mary also wrote poetry, serialized novels, worked as a
journalist, and wrote an unreliable memoir. The latter contributed to the
mystery surrounding her life. Nobody really knew who she was. Much of her work
was published under the pseudonyms “Waif Wander” or just ‘W.W.” with her real
name, identity, and, as W.W., even her gender hidden. In her autobiographical
writing, there are a few clues to her life, but both she and the Australian
Journal guarded her privacy.
Sadly, her desire for privacy was so pervasive that her
death passed without any public attention. The exact date of her death remains
a mystery. What little we know about her comes from a book collector, J.K.
Moir, who began searching for ‘Waif Wander’ in the 1950s. Through his queries
to people who might have known her, he located some manuscript poems and a letter signed "M. H. Fortune." It took another generation and the microfilming
and indexing of documents from colonial Australia before more information about
‘Waif Wander’ was discovered.
Among the fragmentary
information revealed in her autobiographical writing was the mention that she
and her little son, George, immigrated to Australia from Canada in 1855. There
was no mention of a husband. However, the clue of her immigration led to the
discovery of an 1858 'Goldfields marriage' (a public marriage with no minister) of Mary Helena Fortune, nee Wilson to a
mounted policeman named Percy Rollo Brett. His occupation also explained her
knowledge of police procedures.
The marriage did not last, and in 1866 Brett married a second
time without divorcing her. It seems, though, that Mary was the first person in the
couple to commit bigamy. Her first husband, Joseph Fortune, died in Canada in
1861, six years after she and her son moved to Australia. There is no evidence
that Joseph ever came to Australia, but in 1856 Mary named him the father of
her second son, Eastbourne Vawdey Fortune.
The only surviving physical description of Fortune was part
of a police inquiry: “40 years of age, tall, pale complexion, thin build; wore
dark jacket and skirt, black hat, and old elastic - side boots. Is much given
to drink and has been locked up several times for drunkenness. Is a literary
subscriber to several of the Melbourne newspapers.”
What we know of her later life is from the 1909 letter J.K.
Moir discovered. She was impoverished and nearly blind. Her magazine
contributions stopped altogether in 1913. The Australian Journal granted her an
annuity and continued reprinting her Detective Album series through 1919. After
that, they hired other writers for the popular series which continued until
1933. She created the police procedural and developed the casebook
style while Arthur Conan Doyle, who became famous for it, was still in the
nursery.
Perhaps this final note on her death is the saddest commentary
on her life. The impoverished author’s funeral was paid for by the Australian
Journal and she was buried in someone else’s grave. Her final resting place
remains unknown, as does whose name is on the gravestone.
