Walpole , Sir , Hugh Seymour , 1884-1941 , Knight , novelist and man of letters

Sir Hugh Seymour Walpole was born on 13 March 1884 in Auckland, New Zealand. He was educated at King's School, Canterbury, Durham School and in 1903 he attended Emmanuel College Cambridge. Before the First World War Walpole joined the staff of the Mersey Mission to Seaman in 1906; he travelled to France and Germany in 1907 and became the assistant master at Epsom College in 1908. In 1909 he went to London where he published his first novel The Wooden Horse. While in London he also became a book reviewer for the Evening Standard, in 1913. During the First World War, 1914-1918, he served with the Red Cross in Russia, receiving the Order of St George for his heroism. He was also awarded a CBE in 1918 and during the following two years he received the literary prize, the James Tait Black Prize. Walpole was a prolific writer, averaging about a novel a year. He was knighted in 1937. Walpole died in his country home in Keswick, Cumbria on 1 June 1941.