W. Basil (William Basil) Worsfold

Born in Yorkshire on December 5, 1858, William Basil Worsfold was educated at St. Peter's School in York, Wakefield School, and University College, Oxford. He was called to the Bar in 1887, but his career stretched well beyond law into writing, lecturing, and editing.

Worsfold wrote widely in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, publishing books on literature, economics, war, and British colonial history. He is especially associated with South Africa and Africa more broadly, and he also worked for a time as chief editor of the Johannesburg Star.

He published under the name W. Basil Worsfold and remained an active man of letters for decades. He died on September 26, 1939, leaving behind a body of work that reflects the political debates and imperial outlook of his era.