Silas K. (Silas Kitto) Hocking

Born in St Stephen-in-Brannel, Cornwall, on March 24, 1850, Silas Kitto Hocking grew up in a mining family and was educated locally. He was ordained as a Methodist minister in 1870 and served in several English towns before gradually becoming far better known as a novelist than as a preacher.

He began writing while in the ministry, and his early success came with Her Benny in 1879, a story for younger readers that became a major bestseller. Over the years he produced a large number of popular novels and stories, often aimed at a broad readership and shaped by his religious convictions, sympathy for working people, and interest in social questions.

Hocking eventually left full-time pastoral work and devoted himself more fully to writing. He remained a widely read figure in late Victorian and early 20th-century popular fiction, especially among readers who liked earnest, accessible stories with strong feeling and clear moral stakes. He died on September 15, 1935.