A Partial Chronology of the Cases
of William Blackstone Wildman

[Cases recorded by Cotton Mather Winston from the reminiscences of WBW in his old age -- not all transcribed as stories by any means, and of course not a full log of his cases.]
Quick Summary: William Blackstone Wildman's early career, before he took up the profession of private investigator, was a chequered one. A North Country boy with no great prospects owing to his upbringing and social class, he nevertheless managed with luck, precocity, and extraordinary industry to earn a liberal education at one of the minor universities, from there proceeding to London University and ultimately Lincoln's Inn. He did not complete his studies for the Bar; a combination of unfortunate political sympathies and a sudden falling off of interest in legal administration ended that career abruptly.

For a few months he slaved as a Grub Street writer of ephemeral reviews and melodramatic novels. Finally, in disgust, he quit London for a time and worked his way willy-nilly around the world, engaging himself in a great variety of short-lived occupations. His first case of detection took place in southern Algeria in the year 1893 -- a problem concerning the persecution of one Habib al-Muhammed, a Tuareg chieftain.

After a haphazard series of wanderings in Egypt, India, China, Japan, California, and South America, Wildman eventually found himself back in London. Penniless, and without prospects, he worked for a while as an agent for a private enquiry firm. In this he soon found his vocation, and left off catering the whims of adulterous and vengeful clients of his employers to set up a one-man business of his own. He opened his office in Frith Street, Soho, on 3 October 1896; he was then only twenty-five years old.

His career from then on, including a spell as an agent for the Secret Service, continued until 1923, at which time he went into semi-retirement. The most memorable cases involved the evil Halfsister brothers, which will be chronicled some day, perhaps.