The Dictionary of Australasian Biography/Hume, Fergus
Hume, Fergus, the well-known writer, is a native of New Zealand, where his father is part proprietor of a private lunatic asylum near Dunedin. He was bred up to the law, and was articled in the office of Sir Robert Stout, the well-known New Zealand statesman. His first story of any length, and that by which his name is best known, was "The Mysteries of a Hansom Cab," which was first published in Melbourne, where it created a sensation. Mr. Trischler, who had been connected with the publishing house in that city, conceived the idea of reissuing it in London, and bought the rights from the author, bringing the book out in England in 1888, where its circulation was something phenomenal. Subsequently the work was dramatised. Mr. Hume came to reside in London soon after the reissue there of "The Mysteries of a Hansom Cab." In 1889 he produced "Madame Midas," and has written three books each year since. In 1889 he also published "The Piccadilly Puzzle"; in 1890 "The Gentleman who Vanished," "The Man with a Secret," and "Miss Mephistopheles"; in 1891 "A Creature of the Night," "Monsieur Judas: a Paradox," "Whom God hath joined," and "The Year of Miracle." In 1892 Mr. Hume produced "The Island of Fantasy," in three volumes.