Kathleen Freeman

1897-1959

Educator.

Author of many books on Classical Greece, and of novels, short stories and poems.

Under the pseudonym of Mary Fitt, she wrote short stories, mystery novels and children's books.

She also wrote occasionally under other pseudonyms: Stuart Mary Wick, Clare St Donat and Caroline Cory.

A brief biography
Kathleen Freeman's writings
Mary Fitt's writings

A brief biography

Early life:

Kathleen Freeman was born at Yardley near Birmingham June 22, 1897, only child of Charles H Freeman, commercial traveller, and Catharine (Mawdesley).

At university:

She attended the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire in Cardiff where she studied with Professor Gilbert Norwood and graduated in 1918 (BA). She was appointed Lecturer in Greek (1919) at that institution and earned further degrees there: MA in 1922 and DLitt in 1940.

Her earliest published work:

Her first book on a Greek subject was The Work and Life of Solon (1926). She also published poems, short stories and novels. Her first novel, Martin Hanner. a Comedy, about a Professor of Latin, appeared in 1926, the same year as her book on Solon and a collection of her short stories The Intruder and other stories.

Place of residence:

She lived from some time in the 1930s till her death at Lark's Rise, a house on Druidstone Road in St Mellons near Cardiff with her friend Dr Liliane Marie Catherine Clopet, a family physician, who wrote short stories, fairy tales and a novel.

The invention of Mary Fitt:

In 1936 she chose the pseudonym of Mary Fitt and began to publish mysteries and short stories under that name. In total she wrote 27 books and a number of short stories under this name. In many of them, her detective Inspector (later Superintendent) Mallett is aided by a physician Dr FitzBrown. In recognition of her mystery writing, 'Mary Fitt' was elected to membership in the Detection Club in 1950.

She wrote: 'in my character as Author I was born some years later than Myself, in that part of the world which lies between classical Greece and Elizabethan England.'

War contributions:

During the Second World War Freeman contributed columns of selections translated from Greek authors to the Cardiff-based newspaper The Western Mail, later published as a book, It has all happened before (1941). This was followed by Voices of Freedom (1943) and What they said at the time (1945). She assisted further in the war effort by lecturing on Greece to His Majesty's forces stationed in South Wales.

Post war activities:

She resigned from the University in 1946 and published a number of books on Classical subjects between 1946 and 1954. She wrote, as she often said, for 'ordinary people' rather than Classical scholars and did her best to make the ancient Greek world accessible to those who had little or no Greek. Her work on the Attic orators, the Greek city states and the pre-Socratic philosophers are still consulted.

The Philosophical Society of England:

She became Director of Studies in the Philosophical Society of England (1948-52) and served as Chair of Council (1951). In an address to the Society, she compared the cities and world views of Athens and Istanbul.

Her children's books:

She wrote twelve children's books between 1953 and her death, most of them mystery stories, but two, studies of historical figures, Solon and Alfred the Great.

Jane Austen:

In addition to her work on Classical Greece and her fiction, she compared Jane Austen's letters to family and friends with her novels (1956).

The end of her life:

She died at St Mellons near Cardiff February 21, 1959 at the age of 61. Her friend Dr Liliane Clopet survived her for many years, dying on November 5, 1987.

Kathleen Freeman's writings

Books on classical Greece

1926 The work and life of Solon, with a translation of his poems. Cardiff, University of Wales Press Board.

1946 The pre-Socratic philosophers; a companion to Diels, Fragmente der Vorsokratiker. Oxford, Blackwell.

1946 The murder of Herodes and other trials from the Athenian law courts. London, MacDonald, containing 'On the killing of Eratosthenes the seducer' pp. 43-53.

which appeared later in The edge of the chair, Joan Kahn (ed.) New York (1967) pp. 278-288;

and in The Graveyard Shift, Joan Kahn (ed.) New York (1970) pp. 11-22.

1947 The Greek way: an anthology. Translations from verse and prose London, MacDonald.

1947/48 Ancilla to the pre-Socratic philosophers : a complete translation of the fragments in Diels, Fragmente der Vorsokratiker. Oxford and Cambridge, Mass., Blackwell and Harvard University Press.

her translations of Heracleitus were used in Heracleitus; nine embossed line cuts, Antonucci, Emil (ed. and illus.), New York, The Hand Press, 1965.

1948 The Philoctetes of Sophocles, a modern version. London, Muller.

1950 Greek city states. London, Macdonald; New York, W.W. Norton.

1952 God, Man and state. Greek concepts. London, Macdonald.

1954 The paths of justice. London, Lutterworth Press.

1954 Everyday things in Ancient Greece. London, Batsford.

A one-volume revision of Everyday Things in Homeric Greece, Everyday Things in Archaic Greece, and Everyday Things in Classical Greece by C. H. Quennell and Marjorie Quennell 1929-32.

1954 The Sophists. Translation of Mario Untersteiner, I sofisti. Oxford, Blackwell.

Other books

1941 It has all happened before. What the Greeks thought of their Nazis. With a foreword by Gilbert Murray. London, Muller.

1943 Voices of Freedom. London, Muller.

1945 What they said at the time: a survey of the causes of the second world war and the hopes for lasting peace, as exhibited in the utterance of the world's leaders and some others from 1917-1944. London, Muller.

1952 Fighting Words from the Greeks for Today's Struggle. With a preface by Gilbert Murray, Boston, Beacon Press.

1956 T'other Miss Austen London, Macdonald. (A study of Jane Austen).

Articles in scholarly journals and books

1923 ‘The dramatic technique of the Oedipus Coloneus’ in CR 38, pp. 50-54.

1935 ‘Anaxagoras’ in G&R 4 (Feb.) pp. 65-75.

1936 'Copper Fly' in G&R 6 (October) pp. 18-30.

1938 ‘Epicurus – a social experiment’ in G&R 7 (May) pp. 156-168.

1938 ‘Portrait of a millionaire – Callias, son of Hipponicus’ in G&R 8 (Oct.) pp. 20-35.

1939 ‘Pindar: the function and technique of poetry’ in G&R 8 (May) pp. 144-159.

1940 ‘Plato: the use of inspiration’ in G&R 9 (May) pp. 137-149.

1941 ‘Thourioi’ in G&R 10 (Feb.) pp. 49-64.

1945 ‘Vincent, or the donkey’ in G&R 14 (June) pp. 33-41.

1952 ‘The Mystery of the Choreutes.’ Studies in honour of Gilbert Norwood. M. E. White, (ed.) Toronto. University of Toronto Press: pp. 85-94.

Articles and notes in general interest periodicals

1948 'The lesson of ancient Greece' in World Affairs n.s. 2 (July) pp. 233-242.

1949 ‘The idea of God in the Pre-Socratic philosophers’ in The Philosopher n.s. 1, pp. 67-77; 87.

1951 ‘The concept of man in the Greek philosophers’ in The Philosopher n.s.3, pp. 2-11, 30-39.

1951 ‘A woman surgeon’, letter in TLS Friday, December 21, p. 821.

1951 Dinner address in honour of Gilbert Murray in The Philosopher n.s. 3.

1952 Annual luncheon address in The Philosopher n.s. 4 pp. 101-106.

1954 ‘Literature and science’ letter in TLS Friday, July 30, p. 487.

Poems

1924 'Candour' and 'Liberation', The Golden Hind vol. 2 # 8 (July).

1924 'Friendship', Adelphi vol. 1 #10 (March).

1925 'Failure' and 'Gratitude', Adelphi vol. 2. #11 (April).

Short stories

1926 The intruder and other stories. London, Cape.

The Accident; The Antidote; The Cash-Box; The Coward; the Curse; An Experience; The Fraying of the Thread; The Hippocampus; The Hobby Doctor; Imagination; The Intruder; Janet; The Last Device; London Calling; The Mistake (first published The Weekly Westminster Gazette); Nostalgia (first published 1924 The Golden Hind); Pursuit (first published The Woman's Leader); Singers; The Three Nieces; The Valley.

1950 ‘Murder in Athens,’ [Antiphon] in LMM 6 (October) pp. 32-45.

1951 ‘Mystery in Athens’ [Andocides] in LMM 10 (June/July) pp. 26-42.

1951 ‘Scandal in Athens’ [Isaeus] in LMM 12 (October) pp. 72-85.

also appeared in Mystery. Anthology of the Mysterious in Fact and Fiction, anon (ed.) London, Hulton 1952, pp. 115-133.

Novels

1926 Martin Hanner. A Comedy. London and New York, Cape and Harcourt Brace.

1928 Quarrelling with Lois. London, Cape.

1929 This Love. London, Cape.

1934 The Huge Shipwreck. London, Dent.

1936 Adventure from the grave. London, Davies.

1947 Gown and shroud. London, Macdonald.

Mary Fitt's writings

Mystery novels

1936 Murder Mars the Tour London, Nicholson & Watson.

1936 Three sisters flew home London; Nicholson & Watson.

1937 Bulls Like Death London, Nicholson and Watson.

1937 The Three Hunting Horns London; Nicholson & Watson.

1938 Expected Death London, Nicholson and Watson.

1938 Sky-Rocket London. Nicholson & Watson.

1939 Death at Dancing Stones London, Nicholson and Watson.

1939 Murder of a Mouse London, Nicholson and Watson.

1940 Death starts a Rumour London, Nicholson and Watson.

1941 Death and Mary Dazill London, Michael Joseph (published in USA as Aftermath of Murder)

1941 Death on Heron's Mere London, Michael Joseph (published in USA as Death Finds a Target).

1942 Requiem for Robert London, Michael Joseph.

1944 Clues to Christabel London, Michael Joseph.

1946 Death and the Pleasant Voices London, Michael Joseph.

1947 A Fine and Private Place. London, Macdonald and Co.

1948 Death and the Bright Day London, Macdonald.

1949 The Banquet Ceases London, Macdonald.

1950 Pity for Pamela London, Macdonald.

1951 An ill wind London; Macdonald.

1952 Death and the Shortest Day London, Macdonald.

1953 The Night Watchman’s Friend London; Macdonald.

1954 Love from Elizabeth London; Macdonald.

1955 Sweet poison. London, Macdonald.

1957 The late Uncle Max London; Macdonald.

1958 Case for the defence. London, Macdonald.

1959 Mizmaze London, Michael Joseph.

1960 'There are more ways of killing..' London, Michael Joseph.

Short mystery stories

1940 'The Box of Coins' in Detective Stories of Today, Raymond Postgate (ed.) London, Faber and Faber pp. 250-274/

1950 'The Amethyst Cross ' in LMM, pp. 72-90 (attributed to Clare St. Donat).

'The Amethyst Cross' in The Second Ghost Book, Lady Cynthia Asquith (ed.) London: James Barrie, 1952 (Pan 1956) pp. 105-126.

'The Amethyst Cross ' in Twelve Modern Short Stories, Allen, E.E. & A.T. Mason (eds.) London, Edward Arnold (1958) pp. 34-61.

1954 The man who shot birds, and other tales of mystery and detection London, Macdonald. [The majority of the stories in this collection were first published in LMM].

A. with Pitt as detective

The Thursday ‘Phone-Calls

The Professor’s Chair ('The Case of the Professor's Chair' in Mystery. Anthology of the Mysterious in Fact and Fiction, anon (ed.) London, Hulton (1952) pp. 224-240)

The Retired Printer

The Lost Sheep

The Gold-Crested Wrens

The Man who shot Birds (in Some like them dead, Roy Vickers (ed.) London, Hodder and Stoughton (1960) pp. 55-70)

Murder will out

Like a Queen.

B. with Fitzbrown as detective

A Death in the Blackout (edited for BBC radio, in The Butcher’s Dozen. Crime Writers’ Association (Great Britain) London; Heinemann 1956, pp. 53-78)

The Talking Gatepost

The Black Sheep

The Unstitched Hand. reissued as 'The Doctor' in The Third Ghost Book, Lady Cynthia Asquith (ed.), London: James Barrie 1955, pp. 46-55; retitled 'My Aunt’s Story' in Open-Air Adventure Stories For Girls, Eric Duthie (ed.), Frederick Cockerton (ill.), London: Odhams Books Limited, 1965, pp. 110-117.

1958 'Highlight' in Choice of Weapons, Crime Writers' Association (Great Britain), London, Hodder and Stoughton, pp. 135-140.

1958 'A Dumb friend' in Choice of Weapons, Crime Writers' Association (Great Britain), London, Hodder and Stoughton, pp. 141-146.

Children's books

1953 The Island Castle. London, Thomas Nelson and Sons.

1955 Annabella at the Lighthouse. London, Thomas Nelson and Sons.

1955 Annabella takes a plunge. illustrated Richard Kennedy. London, Thomas Nelson and Sons.

1955 Pomeroy's Postscript London, Thomas Nelson and Sons.

1955 Annabella to the rescue. London, Thomas Nelson and Sons.

1956 The Turnip Watch. London, Thomas Nelson and Sons.

1957 Annabella and the smugglers. London, Thomas Nelson and Sons.

1957 Man of Justice. The story of Solon. Edinburgh, Thomas Nelson and Sons.

1957 Vendetta. London, Thomas Nelson and Sons.

1958 The Shifting Sands. London, Thomas Nelson and Sons.

1958 Alfred the Great. The story of an English king. Edinburgh, Thomas Nelson & Sons.

1959 The Great River. London, Thomas Nelson and Sons.

Other pseudonyms

1948 Stuart Mary Wick. And where's Mr Bellamy? London. Hutchinson.

1950 Stuart Mary Wick, The Statue and the Lady. London. Hodder and Stoughton.

1950 Clare St Donat 'The Amethyst Cross' LMM. Attributed in collections to Mary Fitt.

1956 Caroline Cory. Doctor Underground. London, Macdonald

A brief notice of Dr. Liliane M. C. Clopet

born in Berwick upon Tweed, December 13, 1901

mother Charlotte Towerson of Berwick.

father Ary Bernard Clopet, Master Mariner and citizen of France.

medical qualifications: MRCE Eng LRCP Lond 1928; MB BCh 1930 Wales.

died at Newport, November 5, 1987.

Writings of Liliane M. C. Clopet

The wolf-emperor : Play for children [n.d.]

The Crypt. Play in one act. Napiers: Cardiff, [1938).

Julie Destin. Play in one act. Napiers: Cardiff, [1939.].

Once upon a Time ... Illustrated by W. Heath Robinson. Frederick Muller: London, 1944.

Several short stories for children in London Mystery Magazine 1950-52.

Children's hour talks on BBC Cardiff 1937-39; 1950s.

Doctor Dear (1954) under the pseudonym Mary Bethune.

posted 10/16/2005

M. Eleanor Irwin irwin@utsc.utoronto.ca

University of Toronto at Scarborough

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I would be grateful for corrections and additions to this bibliography.