Trout , Robert Ridgill , 1878-1969 , antiquarian bookseller and author

Robert Ridgill Trout was born in 1878 and by career was an antiquarian bookseller, who also carried out regular work valuing the libraries of county houses and institutions. In 1936 he met Alice Vere, a descendant of Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford. It was after conversations with Alice Vere that Ridgill Trout came to believe that Edward de Vere was the author of the plays and poetry attributed to William Shakespeare. Ridgill Trout died on 17 June 1969.