Small image of a man handing a book to a women across a counter.

At the Circulating Library

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

Author: Burford Delannoy

Author: Burford Delannoy (1856–1931)

Alternate Name(s): (pseudonym); [Adolphus] Eugene Judge (legal name)

Biography: Adolphus Eugene Judge was born in 1856 in London, the son of bookseller Adolphus Judge and Fanny Delannoy. He was articled as a solicitor's clerk, but began working on the stage appearing in a number of plays in the London area under the name "Burford Delannoy" (inspired by his mother's maiden name). In 1884, he married Harrietta Kate Arrowsmith and the couple had one son, William. Soon after the marriage, husband and wife permanently separated: in the 1891 census, both live in Harrow, but reside in separate houses. From his marriage on, Judge seems to have kept his theatrical and legal lives rigorously separate. For the former, he wrote, directed, and acted several plays, notably in connection with Sadler's Wells and the Alexandra in Southend-on-Sea. His son William had a brief stage career before dying during surgery on an injured hand in 1893—the doctor accidently administered too much chloroform. Judge's own stage career faltered and he turned to fiction writing with The Comedians' Christmas Dinner (1897) under his stage name "Burford Delannoy." He would go on to write a dozen-and-a-half detective stories. Meantime, Judge's legal career prospered: in partnership with Horace Priestley, he represented numerous theatrical clients. (The partnership of solicitors Judge and Priestley continue to this day.) He died in 1931, leaving his large estate to a musician who was a non-relation. His wife cannot be traced prior to her death in 1936. NB: Only one source identifies "Burford Delannoy" with Adolphus Eugene Judge but the connection, as unlikely as it sounds, seems legitimate.

Author Tags:

References: British Census (1881, 1891, 1901, 1911); Essex Newsman (1 July 1893); Kemp; The Literary Year-Book (1911)

Fiction Titles:

  1. The Comedians' Christmas Dinner, and Other Short Theatrical Stories.  1 vol.  London: Simpkin, 1897.
  2. The Missing Cyclist, and Other Stories.  1 vol.  London: Simpkin, 1898.
  3. The Garden Court Murder: A Detective Story.  1 vol.  Southend: E. J. Ellis, 1899.
  4. A Thespian Detective and Other Theatrical Stories.  1 vol.  Southend: E. J. Ellis, 1899.
  5. Between the Lines: A Detective Story.  1 vol.  London: Ward and Lock, 1901.
  6. Nineteen Thousand Pounds.  1 vol.  London: Ward and Lock, 1901.