J. A. (James Arthur) Lees

James Arthur Lees was a barrister and travel writer, born in 1852 and recorded by the National Library of Scotland as living until 1931. He is best remembered as J. A. Lees, the author behind several late-19th-century travel books.

His best-known works include Three in Norway (1882), written with Walter J. Clutterbuck, B.C. 1887: A Ramble in British Columbia, and Peaks and Pines: Another Norway Book (1899). These books helped introduce readers to fishing, hunting, and long outdoor journeys in Norway and western Canada, mixing practical observation with an easy, entertaining tone.

Lees's writing still appeals because it feels companionable rather than formal: he writes as someone who enjoyed the trip as much as the tale. While detailed biographical information is scarce in the sources I found, his surviving books clearly place him among the popular British travel writers of his era.