John Nevil Maskelyne, known professionally as Nevil Maskelyne (1863–1924), was a British magician and inventor.
Nevil Maskelyne | |
|---|---|
 Nevil Maskelyne circa 1903 | |
| Born | John Nevil Maskelyne 1863 Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England |
| Died | 22 September 1924 (aged 61) Marylebone, London, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Stage magician |
| Spouse | Ada Mary Ardley (1863–1918) |
| Children | Jasper Maskelyne |
| Parents |
|
Biography edit
Maskelyne was born in 1863 Cheltenham (bapt 22 July 1863) to stage magician John Nevil Maskelyne (1839-1917) and his wife Elizabeth née Taylor (1840-1911).
Following his father's death he assumed control of Maskelyne's Ltd.[1]
In wireless telegraphy he was the manager of Anglo-American Telegraph Company which controlled the Valdemar Poulsen patents.[2]
He was a public detractor of Guglielmo Marconi in the early days of radio (wireless). In 1903 he hacked into Marconi's demonstration of wireless telegraphy, and broadcast his own message, hoping to make Marconi's claims of "secure and private communication" appear foolish.[3][4][5]
Works edit
Maskelyne wrote several books on magic, including Our Magic: The Art in Magic, the Theory of Magic, the Practice of Magic (with David Devant) and On the Performance of Magic.
Family and death edit
Maskelyne married Ada Mary Ardley (1863–1918) on 9 July 1888 at St Mary's Church, Battersea, London. They had five children:[6]
- John Nevil ("Jack") Maskelyne (1892–1960), a noted author on railway matters and editor of Model Railway News in the early 20th century.[7]
- Clive Maskelyne (1894–1928), who succeeded his father as president of the Magic Circle.
- Noel Maskelyne (1899–1976), stage magician who joined the Maskelyne company after his father's death.
- Jasper Maskelyne (1902–1973), stage magician remembered for his accounts of using his magical abilities to deceive the Nazis.
- Mary Maskelyne (1902–2000), stepmother of the actress Joan Sterndale-Bennett
He died in Marylebone on 22 September 1924.
References edit
- ^ Caveney, Mike (April 2007). "Classic Correspondence: J.N. Maskelyne to Charles Carter". Magic. 16 (8): 18–20.
- ^ "Pictures By Wireless". The New York Times. 1 January 1908.
- ^ Larson, Erik (2006). Thunderstruck. Crown. ISBN 1-4000-8066-5.
- ^ Wilson, Daniel (May 2015). "Rogue Oscillators". Fortean Times (341): 38–44.
- ^ Marks, Paul (27 December 2011). "Dot-dash-diss: The gentleman hacker's 1903 lulz". New Scientist. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
- ^ "John Nevil Maskelyne (1863-1924)".
- ^ "SteamIndex".