EW Hornung, the OU author lost to time

2024 marks 125 years since the publication of The Amateur Cracksman, a collection of short stories by one of Uppingham’s most famous and successful literary alumni, Ernest William Hornung (C 1880).

EW Hornung, as he was widely known, was the brother-in-law of Arthur Conan Doyle, a friend to Oscar Wilde and the creator of Raffles, the gentleman thief whom George Orwell described as one of the ‘best known characters in English fiction’. After Sherlock Holmes, Raffles was regarded as the second most popular fictional character at the turn of the 20th century and yet Hornung’s name has largely been forgotten in the intervening years. So, who was EW Hornung?

Born in Middlesbrough in 1866, Hornung was sent to Uppingham in 1880, joining Constables. He was well liked at school and developed a lifelong love of cricket despite limited skills at the game, which were further worsened by bad eyesight, asthma and, according to his biographer, a permanent state of generally poor health. Hornung’s disposition led to him emigrating to Australia for several years before returning to the UK to start a career in journalism and, over the next decade, he became a prolific writer of short stories, poems and novels. He married Conan Doyle’s sister in 1893 and their only son was named Arthur Oscar Hornung in tribute to his close literary connections.

In 1898 Hornung developed the character of Arthur J Raffles, whose initials are said to be in recognition of his Constables’ housemaster A J Peck. Though remarkable in the current context, Raffles was regarded as a controversial character at the time as he was a hero on the wrong side of the law. Conan Doyle had warned Hornung against writing the Raffles’ stories and reflected in his memoirs that: “There are few finer examples of short-story writing in our language than these, though I confess I think they are rather dangerous in their suggestion. I told him so before he put pen to paper, and the result has, I fear, borne me out. You must not make the criminal the hero.” In 1899, eight of his Raffles’ stories were collectively published in The Amateur Cracksman and Hornung’s works were a hugely popular and financial success.

Known as ‘a man of large and generous nature, a delightful companion and conversationalist’, Hornung continued writing successfully until the outbreak of World War I. Sadly his son Arthur Oscar was killed at the second Battle of Ypres in 2015 and, though sickly and approaching 50, Hornung volunteered for the army, distinguishing himself at the Siege of Arras.

Following the War, he wrote more poetry as well as memoirs reflecting his time in military service, but his already delicate health was further weakened by his experiences during the War. To aid his recovery, Hornung and his wife visited Saint-Jean-deLuz in the south of France in 1921 but he contracted influenza and died there on 22nd March 1921, aged 54.

Although much of Hornung’s work has fallen into obscurity, his Raffles’ stories remained popular for many years, both in the UK and around the world, and have been adapted for TV and film on many occasions. Esteemed actors from John Barrymore to Ronald Colman, David Niven to Nigel Havers, have all taken on the role of the dashing, cricket-loving thief and a new BBC adaptation is rumoured to be in the pipeline.

EW Hornung (C 1880), creator of the character that became the prototype of the antihero in modern crime fiction, and one of the most influential authors in Uppingham’s history.