John Burland Harris-Burland

He was born on 1 November 1870 at Aldershot,[1] Hampshire, son of Major General William Burland Harris-Burland (1835-1890), decorated for his part in the Crimean War,[2] and Eleanor Harding Bennitt (1841-1897).

[5] Due to his health (as a child he contracted rheumatic fever and whooping cough)[4] he was unable to enter a military career like his father, and studied for two years at theological college with the intention of joining the Church.

In 1893 he won the Newdigate Prize for English Verse at Oxford University with his poem "Amy Robsart",[7] about the first wife of Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester.

"[8] In 1902 his first novel "Dacobra" appeared serially in England, America, and Australia,[9] and was published in 1903 by R.A. Everett & Co. Its success led to him becoming a writer.

They lived at The Lyons Close, Pevensey, Sussex, and at Holly Tree Cottage, Stanton, Broadway, Worcestershire.