Robert Blachford Mansfield

Born in Hampshire on February 1, 1824, he was the son of the Rev. John Mansfield and the younger brother of Charles Blachford Mansfield. A Dictionary of National Biography entry describes him as an author and oarsman, and notes that he was educated at preparatory schools in Romsey and Guildford before going on to Winchester College and University College, Oxford.

He later trained in law and was called to the bar, but he is chiefly remembered for his writing. Surviving bibliographic records connect him with works including School-life at Winchester College, The Log of the Water-Lily, Letters from camp to his relatives during the siege of Sebastopol, and Aerial Navigation, showing the wide range of his interests.

His writing has an energetic, firsthand quality that fits a man remembered not just for books but also for outdoor life and sport. He died in 1908, leaving behind a body of work that preserves vivid slices of nineteenth-century school, travel, and military life.