H. D. (Henry Duff) Traill

Born at Blackheath on August 14, 1842, Henry Duff Traill was educated at Merchant Taylors' School and St John's College, Oxford. Although he was called to the bar, he turned instead to literature and journalism, building a career that made him a familiar name in late Victorian letters.

Traill wrote for and edited major newspapers and reviews, including the Pall Mall Gazette, St. James's Gazette, and The Observer. He was known not just as a journalist, but as a versatile man of letters who published essays, criticism, satire, fiction, and biography.

Among his best-known books are The England of Shakespeare, Coleridge, and The Life of Sir John Franklin, along with satirical works such as The New Lucian. He died in London on February 21, 1900, leaving behind a body of work admired for its intelligence, polish, and literary charm.