W. Alan Devereux
(???? – )
W. A. Deveraux (? spelled Devereaux in Novae Terrae #21, March 1938 and see below!) was a UK fan from Tadworth in Surrey active from the 1930s to the 1950s. He attended the Eastercon in 1944 and the Whitcon of 1948 and was a member of the Science Fiction Association (SFA), joining in March 1938, and the British Fantasy Society (BFS, member #61). Futurian War Digest #35 (June 1944) reported from the end of the first day of the 1944 convention:
7.30 The Convention President (Walter H. Gillings) and Mrs. Gillings and W.A. Devereux arrive. [… at the end of the day] Devereux, Gillings & Akien [sic] decide that everyone must take everything much more seriously
... although it is unclear how seriously we should in turn take this. For one thing, while the duplication is poor, it is clear from the scan[1] that the fanzine used this spelling; yet Rob Hansen et al. for reasons unknown emended this in the text version to “Deveraux”![2]
The 1945 Directory of Anglofandom also lists “Devereux, W. A.” among active fans. It is also worth noting that his address was not "Number, Street" unlike most others, but "The Moorings" in, or rather near the village of Tadworth. This apparently was, or even today is, a substantial estate. Together with the name, it would suggest upper-class origins.
Post-war, one Alan Devereux published a single story in the John Carnell-edited Jinn and Jitters (1946) and was a reviewer for Fantasy Review in 1947–9.
It is hardly an overreach to assume that this is one and the same person. In fact, it is rather probable that he was Devereux all along and the early spelling with A were a typo or a complete mirage.
As for the Whitcon, Hansen gives his name as Alan Devereaux in the attendees overview,[3] yet W.A.Deveraux at the booklet/signatures page;[4] looking at the signature, the loop seems much closer to E. Follows a mention of “Alan Devereaux” in auction. Jack E. Quinn's report in Fantasy Times “as extracted from the Whitcon Booklet” has a list with “W. C. Devereux”, clear typo influenced by the following “F. C. Herman” (misreading of Newman).
Reportedly, Dever…whatever also attended meetings at The Shamrock and later The White Horse and The Globe until at least 1954.
Also severeal other Devereuxes appear, though without much detail, in later fanzines.[5] Considering the name's rarity they might be relatives/descendants.
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- ↑ https://fanac.org/fanzines/Futurian_War_Digest/Futurian_War0405.pdf
- ↑ https://fiawol.org.uk//FanStuff/THEN%20Archive/FWD/FWD35.htm#2.NAM
- ↑ https://fiawol.org.uk//fanstuff/THEN%20Archive/Whit48.htm
- ↑ https://fiawol.org.uk//fanstuff/THEN%20Archive/WtBk.htm
- ↑ Including this better-unspecified in an anecdote again suggesting upper classes: https://news.ansible.uk/a22.html#09
