Nat Gould

Born in Manchester on December 21, 1857, Nathaniel "Nat" Gould became one of the best-known writers of horse-racing fiction of his time. Reliable biographical sources describe him as both a journalist and novelist, and note that he was especially successful with stories set around the turf and sporting life.

Gould worked in journalism before and during his writing career, including in Australia after moving there in the 1880s. That firsthand experience of racing and reporting gave his fiction its pace and detail, and his novels sold in very large numbers during his lifetime.

He died on July 25, 1919. Although he is less widely read today than in his heyday, he remains an important early popular novelist of racing fiction, remembered for turning sporting knowledge into lively, accessible entertainment.