H Rider Haggard
Sir Henry Rider Haggard
Henry Rider Haggard was born in Bradenham, Norfolk, England, on 22nd June, 1856

He was educated in England and went off, in 1875, to serve as secretary to the Governor of Natal. A few years later he became Registrar of the High Court in the Transvaal— a region which was later to form a large part of the Union of South Africa.

He returned to England for a period and married, in 1880, Mariana Louisa Margitson. They went back to the Transvaal, but finally left there and returned to England when it became clear that "independence" was coming to South Africa. In England, he trained and became a barrister, but did not do much work as one.

His main interests were in running his estate, agriculture generally, and writing. He travelled widely around England and wrote extensively about farming and the development of the land, especially with regard to social conditions. But his popularity with the public came with the publication, in 1886, of King Solomon's Mines and many others, of a similar ilk, which followed it.

He was knighted in 1912 for services to the development of agriculture, and made a KBE in 1919.

He died in London on 14th May 1925 aged 69.

Though he wrote about 40 books in total,
his 5 best-known works undoubtedly are:
1886   King Solomon's Mines
1887   She
1887   Allan Quatermain
1892   Nada the Lily
1905   Ayesha (or The Return of She)


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