Sir W. Laird (William Laird) Clowes

Born in Hampstead on February 1, 1856, William Laird Clowes trained in law but made his career as a writer. He worked as a journalist and became a well-known naval correspondent, writing for papers including the Daily News, The Standard, and The Times.

Clowes is chiefly remembered for The Royal Navy, A History from the Earliest Times to 1900, a large multi-volume history that helped establish his reputation as a serious naval historian. He also wrote on naval technology and strategy, bringing a reporter’s eye for detail to subjects that could easily have become dry or technical.

He was knighted in 1904, not long before his death on August 14, 1905. Though he also wrote poetry, fiction, and other nonfiction, his enduring place in literary and historical history rests on the energy and ambition of his naval writing.