W. D. Pitcairn

Little confirmed biographical information appears to survive about this author, but he is known for Two Years Among the Savages of New Guinea, published in 1891. In the book's prefatory material, he dates his writing from "The Vicarage, Eccles" in June 1890, suggesting a connection to Eccles in England at the time he prepared the manuscript.

His book is a firsthand travel narrative drawn from time spent in New Guinea after traveling by way of North Queensland. It reflects the habits and attitudes of 19th-century exploration writing: part memoir, part adventure story, and part record of places, journeys, and encounters as he understood them.

Today, the work is chiefly of interest to readers drawn to historical travel writing and colonial-era accounts of the Pacific. Because reliable modern biographical sources on him are scarce, it is safest to let the book itself remain the clearest window into his life and outlook.