About Author
H. Rider Haggard
H. Rider Haggard (Sir Henry Rider Haggard) was an English author who was known for his African thriller novel, 'Lord Solomon's Mines'. His father was a Norfolk advocate but he was denied an honourable men's schooling compared to his siblings due to his physical bluntness. Yet he was taught at Ipswich Grammar School. At nineteen years old, he started his vocation at the command of his father as an unpaid guide to Lieutenant-Governor of the Colony of Natal, staying in Africa for the following six years. The experience he obtained during this period would later significantly affect his writing profession. An author of massive talent. He kept on composing till the end, leaving behind a legacy of various books, brief tales, and non-fictions for us to read. An agriculturist, he served on a few government commissions concerning horticulture throughout the British Empire, being selected a Knight Bachelor and Knight Commander for his commitment to this field.
H. Rider Haggard was born on 22 June, 1856 in Braden ham, situated in the English area of Norfolk. His father, Sir William Meybohm Rider Haggard, was a lawyer, while his mother, Ella Dove ton Haggard, was an author herself. The couple had ten children, out of which Henry was conceived as the eighth.
Senior to him was one sister and six brothers called Ella Dove ton, William Henry Dove ton, Bastet Michael Dove ton, Alfred Huber, John George, Andrew Charles Parker, and Arthur. His more youthful kin was Elizabeth Cecelia Western; Eleanora Mary D'Auethare and Edward Arthur Haggard.
Due to his dull appearance and absence of focus, his father didn't send him to any tuition-based schools. Taking everything into consideration, he started his schooling with Reverend H. J. Graham at Garsington Rectory in Oxfordshire. Afterward, he moved to Ipswich Grammar School, from where he graduated in 1873.
In 1884, Haggard had a five-shilling stake with his brother, asserting that he could compose a preferred novel over Robert Louis Stevenson's 'Treasure Island'. He composed it in the weeks between January and 21st April, 1885. Right away, he set out on writing 'Lord Solomon's Mines' which got distributed in 1885 and immediately turned into a top-of-the-line novel.
Even though he had kept on working in legal matters irregularly, he surrendered it and started to focus on writing, serializing another well-known work, 'She: A History of Adventure' in 'The Graphic' magazine between October 1886 and January 1887. At last, the work was distributed as a novel in 1887.
In 1887, he distributed another significant work, 'Allan Quatermain' which was a spin-off of 'Lord Solomon's Mines'. Among his other famous works of that time were 'Cleopatra' (1889), 'Nothing the Lily' (1892), and so on.
In 1891, he headed out to Mexico to rework his book, 'Montezuma's Daughter' (1893). While continuing with his journey, he received the news that his only child died which disheartened him gravely. Yet he kept on working and published the book named 'Heart of the World' another Mexico-based book in 1895.
He started the 20th century with 'Lysbeth: A Tale of the Dutch', a chronicle-based novel in the Netherlands, from that point onwards he composed 33 books until he passed away in 1925. His last work, 'Belshazzar' is an authentic novel set in Ancient Babylon.
Other significant works of the 20th century were 'Ayesha, the Return of She' (1905), 'Sovereign Sheba's Ring' (1910), 'Marie' (1912), and 'The Ivory Child' (1916). Likewise, during this time, he composed his collection of memoirs, 'The Days of My Life', which was distributed after his passing in 1926.
He worked as a farmer on government commissions regarding agriculture. He wrote several other books like 'A Farmer's Year: Being His Commonplace Book for 1898' and 'Provincial England: Being an Account of the Agricultural and Social Researches Carried Out in 1901 and 1902'.
H. Rider Haggard is best associated with his works in the year, 'Ruler Solomon's Mines'. Known as the primary English experience novel set in Africa, it recounts the narrative of Allan Quatermain, who drove a group of swashbucklers through a neglected local of the landmass in search of a colleague's brother.
In 1912, H. Rider Haggard was named the 'Knight Bachelor' for his administration in the field of horticulture. Later in the year 1919, New Year Honors honored him with the title 'Knight Commander' of the Order of the British Empire.
In 1880, H. Rider Haggard was married to a Norfolk beneficiary Marianna Louisa Margitson. They had four children named Jack, who died at the age of 10 due to measles, and three girls named Angela, Dorothy, and Lilias. Lilias turned into an author and composed a biography on the life of her father named 'The Cloak That I Left'.
He likewise had a relationship with Mary Elizabeth Lilly" Archer nee Jackson whom he had expected to wed. In later years, he dealt both with her and her children and saw to their schooling. On 14th May 1925, H. Rider Haggard died at the age of 68 in London. His remains were cremated at St Mary's Church, Ditchingham, and his papers are currently held at the Norfolk Record Office. Rider, a rail route point of the Canadian National Railway in British Columbia has been named after him.
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