George Sturt

Born in Farnham, Surrey, in 1863, he grew up in a family wheelwright's business and later took over the workshop himself. That practical background shaped his writing, giving it unusual detail and authority when he described handwork, farming, and the rhythms of country communities.

He published both under his own name and under the pseudonym George Bourne. His best-known books include The Bettesworth Book, Change in the Village, and The Wheelwright's Shop, works that record rural life with sympathy, sharp observation, and a strong sense of how quickly older ways were disappearing.

Sturt died in 1927, but his books remain valued by readers interested in English rural history, working life, and the craft traditions that industrial change pushed aside. What makes him stand out is the mix of storyteller and witness: he wrote not as a distant observer, but as someone who had lived the work he described.