author
Best known for a lively Victorian tale inspired by real events, this little-known writer has an unexpectedly poignant story of his own. His work survives largely through a single remembered book and the local history that helped bring his short life back into view.
Charles Moreton was the author of The Maid and the Magpie, a work available through Project Gutenberg and cataloged there under his name. The book presents itself as "an interesting tale founded on facts," giving his writing a mix of storytelling and historical curiosity.
A local history profile from Markham Story Mine identifies him as having been born in Clowne on June 15, 1908, and dying in 1937, which suggests he died very young. That same source helps place him in an English family background and preserves details that are otherwise hard to find, making him one of those obscure authors whose biography survives in fragments.
Because reliable information about him is limited, it is safest to remember him through the book that remains easiest to read today: a small, vivid work that has outlasted the many personal details history forgot.