Herbert Hayens

William James Herbert Hayens was an English novelist and editor, born in Bristol in 1861. He became well known for juvenile fiction and books for schools, writing a large number of stories for boys and young readers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

He spent much of his life in Glasgow and worked at Collins & Co. as a chief editor. Alongside his editorial work, he produced adventure and historical fiction that often centered on conflict, travel, and acts of bravery, and he was sometimes compared with other popular writers of boys' adventure fiction of his era.

Hayens died on January 22, 1944. Today he is remembered mainly for the energy of his storytelling and for the place his books held in the once hugely popular world of school and adventure reading.