GEORGE E. ROCHESTER

According to The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction: "UK author, mostly of fiction for boys under his own and several other names, including John Beresford, Frank Chaltam, Barton Furse, Jeffrey Gaunt, Eric Roche and Hamilton Smith; much of this output did not reach book form, including his first known sf tale, "The Black Vulture" (28 April-23 June 1934 Scoops), about a Mad Scientist plotting to rule the world. The Despot of the World (1936) tells a similar tale. Several 1930s tales with evocative titles – like The Skywayman: Breathless Story of Aerial Adventure (22 March-7 June 1932 Chums as "Captain Robin Hood, Skywayman"; 1933; vt Captain Robin Hood, Skywayman 1935), which features a mysterious Island, or Brood of the Vulture (1936), which does not – come close to sf, but typically restrict themselves to adventures in aeroplanes, often featuring air pirates. In The Haunted Man (23 January-3 April 1937 Detective Weekly; 1951) as by Jeffrey Gaunt, a mild-mannered clerk is surgically transformed into a powerful figure of evil. Of more direct sf interest is The Sea Spider: A Story of Piracy and Peril (9 February-4 May 1935 Magnet; 1936 chap), which features an armoured amphibious tank in the shape of a giant spider which ambulates on jointed metal legs.

Rochester was extremely popular in the 1930s; his later career was inconspicuous and he fell silent after about 1954."