author
Remembered mainly through a small handful of surviving works, this little-known Victorian clergyman wrote in a clear, approachable style that joined religious reflection with an eye for the natural world.

by Edward Hoare, Rev. W. May
Rev. W. May is an obscure 19th-century author whose surviving record online is very thin. Project Gutenberg lists him as the author of Memorials of Francis Storr: Sermons, a commemorative volume written with Edward Hoare, and other cataloged editions credit him with The Little Book of British Quadrupeds.
Those works suggest a writer with two distinct interests: Christian ministry and popular education. Memorials of Francis Storr places him in the world of Anglican sermon writing and memorial literature, while The Little Book of British Quadrupeds, originally published in 1840, presents British mammals in a simple, accessible way that feels aimed at general readers or younger learners.
Because so little verified biographical information is readily available, it is safest to view Rev. W. May through his books rather than through a detailed life story. What survives points to a practical, readable author whose work reflects the Victorian taste for both moral instruction and compact introductions to the natural world.