This early work by Robert Barr was originally published in 1896 and we
are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. "One
Day's Courtship, and the Heralds of Fame" is a nautical story where we
see Barr's colourful characters embark upon a voyage. Robert Barr was
born on 16th September 1849 in Glasgow, Scotland, but he and his parents
emigrated to Upper Canada when he was just four years old. He attended
Toronto Normal School to train as a teacher and this career path led him
to become headmaster of the Central School of Windsor, Ontario. During
his time as a headteacher he began to contribute short stories to the
Detroit Free Press, a publication for whom he left the teaching
profession to become a staff member in 1876. He wrote for them under the
pseudonym "Luke Sharp", a name he found amusing on a sign reading "Luke
Sharpe, Undertaker" that he used to pass on his daily commute to work.
He eventually rose to the position of news editor at the publication. In
1881 he left Canada for London to establish a weekly English edition of
the Detroit Free Press. During the 1890's he began to increase his
literary production, writing mainly in the popular crime genre of the
day. The success of his contemporary, Arthur Conan Doyle, and his super
sleuth, Sherlock Holmes, inspired him to write the first Holmes parody
"The Adventures of Sherlaw Kombs". Despite this jibe Barr and Doyle
remained on very good terms. Robert Barr died from heart disease on
October 21, 1912, at his home in Woldingham, a small village to the
south-east of London.
