J. Storer (Joseph Storer) Clouston

Born in Cumberland in 1870, Joseph Storer Clouston was the son of the psychiatrist Sir Thomas Clouston and came from an old Orkney family. He studied in Edinburgh and at Oxford, trained for the law, and was called to the bar, but writing became his real career.

Clouston made his name with The Lunatic at Large in 1899, a comic novel that proved popular enough to inspire several sequels. Over the years he wrote a wide range of fiction, including humorous novels, mysteries, and wartime thrillers such as The Spy in Black, while also building a reputation as a historian and antiquary with a strong interest in Orkney's past.

He spent much of his later life in Orkney, where his local roots and historical interests shaped much of his work. He died there in 1944, leaving behind a body of writing that ranges from light, playful comedy to serious historical research.