born March 13, 1884, Auckland, N.Z.
died June 1, 1941, near Keswick, Cumberland, Eng.
British novelist, critic, and dramatist.
A natural storyteller, Walpole turned to writing and reviewing books after unsuccessful attempts at teaching and lay reading in the Anglican church. Among his important novels is the semiautobiographical series that includes Jeremy (1919), Jeremy and Hamlet (1923), and Jeremy at Crale (1927). The Herries Chronicle, about an English country family, comprises Rogue Herries (1930), Judith Paris (1931), The Fortress (1932), and Vanessa (1933). He also wrote critical works on Anthony Trollope , Walter Scott , and Joseph Conrad .