Digital Victorian Periodical Poetry

Poet and prolific novelist. Born in West Bradenham, Norfolk. Son of William Meybohm Rider Haggard (1817–1893), a landowner and lawyer, and Ella (d. 1889), a poet. Educated at Ipswich grammar school. Sent to South Africa at 19, where he managed Sir Henry Bulwer’s household and immersed himself in the complex dynamics of Zulu, Boer, and British relations. He was the youngest department head in South Africa, serving as the Transvaal high court registrar. His early experiences in South Africa, including heartbreak over a failed romance, inspired much of his adventure fiction. Knighted in 1912 and later made KBE. Some of his most famous novels include King Solomon’s Mines (1885), She (1887), and Ayesha (1905). Biographical information: ODNB. (NM)