Joseph Hocking

Born in St Stephen-in-Brannel, Cornwall, on November 7, 1860, Joseph Hocking became known both as a novelist and as a United Methodist Free Church minister. He was ordained in 1884, and his religious calling stayed closely connected to his fiction throughout his life.

Hocking wrote a remarkably large body of work, producing nearly 100 novels and other books. Many of his stories mix suspense, romance, and historical or regional color with clear moral and spiritual concerns, which helped him build a wide readership in his day.

He came from a notably literary family: his brother Silas Hocking and his sister Salome Hocking were also successful novelists. Joseph Hocking died on March 4, 1937, but his books remain of interest to readers who enjoy late Victorian and early 20th-century popular fiction with a strong Cornish and Christian flavor.