William Edward Norris was born on the 18th November 1847, the son of Sir William Norris, the Chief Justice of Ceylon.Norris was educated at Eton before studying law and being called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1874.However, he never practiced law but instead pursued his dreams of a literary career. His first publication, 'Heap of Money' appeared in 1877. He was prolific and wrote over sixty novels together with a small library of short stories. Much of his work was serialised and published in magazines such as Cornhill ort Temple Bar before being released in book form.William Edward Norris died on the 20th November at his home in Torquay, England at the age of 88.