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Sensation and Detection Mary Cecil Hay, Old Myddelton’s Money (1874)


Given the large amount of work that has been undertaken in recent years on forgotten novelists from the mid-nineteenth century, it is remarkable that the work of Mary Cecil Hay (1839–86) has escaped notice. Born on January 10 1839 in Shrewsbury, the daughter of Thomas William Hay and Cecilia Carbin, Hay published a considerable number of novels and short stories in the 1870s and 1880s. Although her reputation was inferior to that of better known sensation writers such as Mary Braddon and Wilkie Collins, it was enough to sustain several editions of her work and attract notice in a range of publications. Describing her death on 24 July 1886 after a ‘long illness’, The Athenaeum expressed its regret at the passing away of ‘the well-known novelist’ and described Hay as ‘an excellent and charitable woman who worked exceedingly hard’. Much of Hay’s work appeared in both three-volume and one-volume form, as well as being published in the Family Herald, The Argosy, and The Belgravia, and she enjoyed considerable popularity in the United States and Australia.

Volume Contents

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    Front Matter
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    Introduction By Mark Knight
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    Bibliography for Mary Cecil Hay By Mark Knight
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    Chronology of Mary Cecil Hay By Mark Knight
  • Old Myddelton’s Money (1874) By Mary Cecil Hay
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      I
      Chapter I
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      II
      Chapter II
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      III
      Chapter III.
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      IV
      Chapter IV
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      V
      Chapter V.
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      VI
      Chapter VI
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      VII
      Chapter VII.
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      VIII
      Chapter VIII
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      IX
      Chapter IX.
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      X
      Chapter X
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      XI
      Chapter XI.
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      XII
      Chapter XII
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      XIII
      Chapter XIII.
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      XIV
      Chapter XIV.
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      XV
      Chapter XV.
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      XVI
      Chapter XVI
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      XVII
      Chapter XVII
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      XVIII
      Chapter XVIII
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      XIX
      Chapter XIX.
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      XX
      Chapter XX
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      XXI
      Chapter XXI.
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      XXII
      Chapter XXII
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      XXIII
      Chapter XXIII.
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      XXIV
      Chapter XXIV
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      XXV
      Chapter XXV
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      XXVI
      Chapter XXVI.
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      XXVII
      Chapter XXVII
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      XXVIII
      Chapter XXVIII.
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      XXIX
      Chapter XXIX
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      XXX
      Chapter XXX.
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      XXXI
      Chapter XXXI.
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      XXXII
      Chapter XXXII
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      XXXIII
      Chapter XXXIII
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      XXXIV
      Chapter XXXIV.
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      XXXV
      Chapter XXXV
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      XXXVI
      Chapter XXXVI.
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      XXXVII
      Chapter XXXVII
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      XXXVIII
      Chapter XXXVIII.
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      XXXIX
      Chapter XXXIX
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      XL
      Chapter XL
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      XLI
      Chapter XLI
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      XLII
      Chapter XLII
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      XLIII
      Chapter XLIII.
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      XLIV
      Chapter XLIV
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      XLV
      Chapter XLV
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    Back Matter