Some
readers of the Thorndyke saga may not realize
that the name "Jervis" is pronounced
"Jarvis." To Robin Winks, master of
Berkeley College at Yale and, among his many
distinctions, an eminent scholar in the field
of crime fiction, awareness of that fact has
led to a discovery of significance to his students
of nineteenth century British history.
An active member of Britain's diplomatic corps
in the last century was a man named Jarvois.
Jarvois moved extensively about the Orient doing
work of such significant worth that, all the
way from Tasmania to Mandalay, valleys, rivers,
lakes, and mountains were given his name.
Jarvois's personal papers, of course, would
be of enormous interest to historians of his
era. But it has long been believed that he destroyed
them before his death. Scholar-detective that
he is, Robin Winks, who is also a full professor
of history at Yale, found reasons to doubt this.
Accordingly, he wrote to every Jarvois he could
find record of, asking him if he had family
ties with the illustrious diplomat. None reported
any.
Winks gave the matter further thought. Jarvois,
he knew, pronounced his name "Jarvis."
Was it possible that someone who spelled his
name "Jarvois" but pronounced it "Jarvis"
might grow weary of hearing his name mispronounced
and, to rid himself of this annoyance, change
the spelling to "Jarvis," or even
"Jervis"? Pronunciation of the latter,
he knew, posed less of a problem than "Jarvois"
did since, in this century, the pronunciation
"clark" has supplanted "clerk"
throughout Britain.
Struck by this idea, Winks compiled a list of
all the Jervises and Jarvises listed in British
directories and put a single query to them,
one and all: "Are you related to the Jarvois
and, if so, do you know where his papers may
be found?" Almost immediately a letter
came back from an Inspector Jervis at Scotland
Yard. "The man you have inquired about
was my grandfather," wrote Inspector Jervis.
"I possess all his papers and you may have
them!"
Robin Winks now is writing a book that makes
him the envy of every one in his field. Who
says an interest in detective fiction is a frivolous
pastime?
We salute a historian of distinction who is
also a detective of distinction.
One thought lingers. Why did Jervis, né
Jarvois, alter the spelling of his name and
join Scotland Yard? Could it be that he was
awakened to his potential by reading the Thorndyke
saga? [Editor's note: First appeared in The
Thorndyke File Fall, 1982 No.14 and Crimestalker
Casebook V.3, N.1, 2002]
John
McAleer
Mount Independence
Lexington, Massachusetts
June, 2001
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