English novelist, born near Hanley, Staffordshire, in the heart of “The Potteries”, the son of a solicitor. Educated locally and at London University, he became a solicitor’s clerk in London, but quickly transferred to journalism, and in 1893 became assistant editor (editor in 1896) of the journal Woman. He published his first novel, The Man fom the North, in 1898. In 1902 he moved to Paris for ten years, and from then on he was engaged exclusively in writing, journalistic and creative. His claims to recognition as a novelist rest mainly on the early Anna of the Five Towns (1902), the more celebrated The Old Wives’ Tale (1908), and the Clayhanger series -- Clayhanger 1910, Hilda Lessways (1911), These Twain (1916), subsequently issued (1925) as The Clayhanger Family -- in all of which novels “the Five Towns”, centres of the pottery industry, feature not only as background, but almost as dramatis personae. He excels again with Riceman Steps, (1923), a picture of drab life in London; and his genial, humorous streak shows in works like The Card (1911), The Grand Babylon Hotel (1902), Imperial Palace (1930), and the play The Great Adventure (1913). The play Milestones, written in collaboration with Edward Knoblock, was much performed. He was a sound and influential critic, and as “Jacob Tonson” on The New Age he was a discerning reviewer. His Journals were published posthumously.

Taken with acknowledgement from Chambers Biographical Dictionary (1990).