R. Thurston (Robert Thurston) Hopkins

Born in Bury St Edmunds in 1884, Robert Thurston Hopkins was a British writer whose work ranged widely across biography, topography, and supernatural subjects. Records of his published work show him writing on figures such as Oscar Wilde and Rudyard Kipling, while also producing books about the English countryside.

He is especially remembered today for his ghost-themed writing. Adventures with Phantoms appeared in 1946 and helped cement his reputation as a writer drawn to strange stories, hauntings, and folklore, often presenting them with the tone of an investigator as much as a storyteller.

Hopkins remained an active author for decades, and his name also survives through his connection to the photojournalist Thurston Hopkins, who was his son. He died in 1958.