Re-reading WOTW: Markham, Lavelle & Perrotin?

[steve]

While re-reading the novel War of the Worlds (WOTW) for an upcoming project, I have the following questions:

1). Who is "Markham"? Introduced in Book 1, Chapter 1 (B1C1), all that seems to reference him is the following, "I remember how jubilant Markham was at securing a new photograph of the planet for the illustrated paper he edited in those days." Is he just a random name or a historical name? Who is he in reference to the story?

2). Who is "Perrotin of Nice" (also introduced in B1C1)? Was that an actual astronomer or a fictional person?

3). Who is "Lavelle of Java" (see #2)?

While #2 & #3 can be assumed to be fictional astronomers, they might have been real ones during that era and referenced informally as someone might reference, say, "Spielberg and Lucas of Hollywood."

The real mystery, for me, is Markham. The character appears out of nowhere and is not defined beforehand.

Any clarification with these characters would be most appreciated. Thank you.

[Lonesome Crow]

I don't know about Markham, I think he is supposed to be the editor of the paper or magazine The journalist (main character) writes for. So I think he is fictional.

Lavelle of Java. Was a fictional name given to a real person;
In 1894 the observers, M. Javelle of Nice, claimed to have seen a strange light on Mars, which further stimulated speculation about life there. Wells turned Javelle into Lavelle of Java.

Perrotin, Henri (1845–1904) Real person.
French astronomer who, in 1886, while working with Louis Thollon at the Nice Observatory, reported having seen many canals and some "geminations" on Mars in positions agreeing with the map produced by Schiaparelli in 1882.

Hope this is of use to you.

[Relyt]

That observatory is such a nice place.