HAGGARD, SIR H. RIDER

born June 22, 1856, Bradenham, Norfolk, Eng. died May 14, 1925, London in full Sir Henry Rider Haggard English novelist best known for his romantic adventure King Solomon's Mines (1885). The son of a barrister, Haggard was educated at Ipswich grammar school and by private tutors. In 1875, at age 19, he went to southern Africa as secretary to the governor of Natal, Sir Henry Bulwer. Then he served on Sir Theophilus Shepstone's staff and himself hoisted the flag at the annexation of the Transvaal in 1877. He then became master of the high court there. In 1881 he returned to England, wrote a history of recent events in southern Africa, Cetywayo and His White Neighbours (1882), and read for the bar. He published two novels, then unsuccessful, but captured the public with his African adventure story, King Solomon's Mines. He followed this with She (1887) and further stories of Africa, notably Allan Quatermain (1887), Nada the Lily (1892), Queen Sheba's Ring (1910), Marie (1912), and The Ivory Child (1916). He also wrote memorably of ancient Egypt in several novels, beginning with Cleopatra (1889). Haggard was also a practical farmer; he served on several government commissions concerning agriculture and was knighted in 1912 and 1919 for these services. A Farmer's Year (1899) and Rural England, 2 vol. (1902), are works of some importance. His autobiography, The Days of My Life: An Autobiography by Sir H. Rider Haggard (1926), was edited by C.J. Longman and published posthumously.