June 1st marks the sixty-second anniversary of the death of Sax Rohmer. DMR Books recently marked the bicentennial of Sir Richard Burton’s birth. Rohmer counted Burton’s multi-volume translation of A Thousand and One Arabian Nights as one of the key influences in shaping both his writing and his lifelong interests.

While it is common knowledge that the protagonists of Rohmer’s early Fu Manchu thrillers, Nayland Smith and his chronicler and companion, Dr. Petrie, were modeled on Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson and one of the earliest Fu Manchu stories was closely patterned on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic Sherlock Holmes mystery, “The Speckled Band;” it is less known that Rohmer modeled one of the long-running supporting characters in the series on Sir Richard Burton.

Rohmer had begun the first Fu Manchu serial just as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World saw print. That novel introduced Conan Doyle’s other celebrated series character, the brilliant and bombastic Professor Challenger. It has been surmised that Sir Richard Burton was one of several influences on the character and personality of Challenger. It seems undeniable that Rohmer’s eccentric celebrated archaeologist Sir Lionel Barton’s very name as well as his colorfully unorthodox behavior were both closely modeled on Sir Richard Burton and owed the introduction of Professor Challenger for the character’s own creation. Sir Lionel Barton is likewise a respected author, though hardly as prolific as Sir Richard Burton. His publications include an unnamed work on the Mayapan temples, The Sorcerers of Dahomey, and The History and Art of the Rapier.

When introduced in the first book in the series, The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu (1913), Barton is described as follows:

“A tall, massive man…with untidy grey hair and a bristling moustache, keen blue eyes, and a brown skin, who wears a short beard or rarely shaves—I don’t know which…Orientalist and explorer, the fearless traveler who first had penetrated to Lhasa, who thrice, as a pilgrim, had entered into forbidden Mecca…. he has seen things in Tibet which Fu-Manchu would have the West blind to.”

Sir Lionel resides at a great house in Finchley described as:

“a low, squat place, completely hemmed in by trees…damp as a swamp; smells like a jungle.”

Barton’s exotic interests were reflected in his shockingly unorthodox household with its Bedouin groom, Chinese manservant, female short-hand secretary, and polyglot Italian majordomo. Sir Lionel was marked for death as a Man Who Knew Too Much, but he survived his first encounter with Dr. Fu Manchu and returned for the third and intended final book in the series, The Hand of Fu Manchu (1917). The reader is informed that prior to the events recounted in the first book, when Barton had excavated the Daedalian labyrinth; a distant relative passed away and Sir Lionel subsequently inherited the family ancestral home, Greywater Park.

When Smith and Petrie first visit the locale in the third book in the series, they are informed that Greywater Park is haunted by the ghost of a Spanish priest from the Reformation. A storied estate from the time of Henry VIII, Greywater Park shares its grounds with Monkswell, an abandoned tower from the reign of King John. An elaborate tunnel system, built during the time of the Phoenicians, connects Greywater Park to Monkswell and the English coast. His mysterious Greek butler, Homopoulo is head of the exotic and highly eccentric household alongside a staid English secretary and a matronly housekeeper. Barton’s menagerie at Greywater Park includes a civet cat, a lion, leopards, hyenas, a marabout, gazelles, cranes, and antelope. Yet again, Sir Lionel just narrowly escapes losing his life for having unknowingly crossed paths with Fu Manchu.

When Rohmer revived the series in 1930 with Daughter of Fu Manchu, Sir Lionel Barton was critical to the novel’s plot as his excavation of the Tomb of the Black Ape is crucial to Fu Manchu’s plans. Sir Lionel’s English residence is now Abbott’s Hold in Norfolk, a sprawling estate (also said to be haunted) that now houses his menagerie of exotic animals. Mrs. Oram, the matronly housekeeper from Greywater Park, is still in his employ.

Between books, Barton and his chief assistant in Daughter of Fu Manchu, Shan Greville, excavated Nineveh. Greville also teamed with Sir Denis Nayland Smith in two short stories published between books that involved neither Fu Manchu nor Barton. The fifth title in the series, The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932) saw Sir Lionel uncover the relics of the false prophet, El Mokanna. Yet again, Barton had blundered into Fu Manchu’s affairs unwittingly though he never comes closer to paying the ultimate price as he does in this title. Ali Mahmoud is head of the native help on Barton’s excavations in both books. A chemist and his own personal pilot are part of the Barton expedition to the Middle East.

Sir Lionel is now residing in a house in Bruton Street. Given the man’s immeasurable wealth, it is perhaps unsurprising he owns so many properties (Rohmer likewise shared a love of multiple residences). The novel concluded with the wedding of Barton’s spirited niece Rima to Shan Greville and their exit from the series. Rima and Shan seemed like surrogate children to Barton just as Rohmer’s secretary and occasional radio scriptwriting partner Cay Van Ash seemed like a surrogate son to the childless Rohmers. Their wedding provided an excuse to introduce Barton’s sister, the highly respectable Lady Ettrington.

The seventh novel in the series, The Trail of Fu Manchu (1934) makes passing mention that Rowan House was Barton’s former residence. The character would not properly return until the tenth novel in the series, The Island of Fu Manchu (1941), narrated by Fleet Street journalist Bart Kerrigan, an old friend of both Sir Lionel and Nayland Smith. Barton is back at Abbott’s Hold in Norfolk in this book, though he stays as a guest at Kerrigan’s flat for part of the adventure. Barton has discovered the chart of Christophe and ends up aiding in the routing of Fu Manchu’s Haitian operations. Nearly a decade had passed and, as always, Rohmer continued to have his characters age in real time. Sir Lionel is described in the book as a:

“huge, overbearing man with a lion’s mane of tawny hair streaked with white; piercing blue eyes shadowed by craggy brows.”

Like many Victorians, Sir Lionel was a pipe smoker. Ever the exoticist, Barton favors Rhodesian tobacco. Expanding on the character’s background in the book, we learn that Barton is a retired Army Major. His service during the Second World War sees him return to active duty as a Lieutenant-Colonel. A final reference is made to the character in the twelfth book in the series, Re-Enter: Fu Manchu (1957) when Zoe Montero notes in passing that Sir Lionel is a family friend.

Cay Van Ash, Rohmer’s friend, secretary, occasional collaborator, and posthumous biographer later completed two continuation novels. The second of the Van Ash titles, The Fires of Fu Manchu (1987) reveals that during the Great War, Barton owned a residence in Capri, just outside of Naples, that is maintained by a local Italian family. Along with moving the series in real time, Rohmer’s references to characters who come and go from the narrative helped lend an air to authenticity to what was otherwise fantastic fiction.

Still another continuation author gave us Sir Lionel Barton in The Destiny of Fu Manchu (2012) chronicling the run-up to the Second World War. Sir Lionel is ensconced in Ethiopia where he has fallen in love with a younger woman, Anna Knox, though one whose own fiery temperament and love for the exotic (she keeps a pet gorilla called Monkey) perhaps explain how the unlikely couple were attracted to one another. One thing is for certain, if Sir Lionel late in life found time to turn his interest to female companionship, he would never shy from controversy nor even once consider embracing tradition. In that, perhaps we have the key to both the character’s enduring appeal and the reason Sir Richard Burton resonated so deeply with Sax Rohmer. It is certainly the reason Rohmer resonates so deeply with readers to this day.