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John Bunyan (1628-1688) was the writer of ‘The Pilgrim’s Progress’, that was at one stage the second most popular book after the the Bible.

(Adeline) Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) was an English writer, whose innovative, experimental novels have had a lasting effect on the development of modern literature. Her books, such as ‘Mrs Dalloway’, ‘The Waves’ and ‘To the Lighthouse’, with their stream-of-consciousness structure, have led her to be recognised as one of the most significant writers of the twentieth century.

Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849 – 1924) was an English writer who spent much of her life in America. Her most popular book during her lifetime was ‘Little Lord Fauntleroy’, but she is better remembered now for ‘The Little Princess’ and particularly ‘The Secret Garden’.

John Meade Falkner (1858 – 1932) a teacher, tutor and successful industrialist. Notable among the relatively small number of books that he wrote was ‘Moonfleet’, a tale of smugglers that was a much-loved book for young readers for many years.

Sir Henry Rider Haggard (1856 – 1925) was an English writer famous for his adventure stories set in Africa, ‘King Solomon’s Mines’ and its sequel, ‘Allan Quatermain’.

Thomas Hughes (1822 – 1896) attended Rugby School. The school and its headmaster, Dr Thomas Arnold, served as his inspiration for ‘Tom Brown’s School Days’, an adventure based on life in a public school.

Charles Kingsley (1819 – 1875) was a Victorian clergyman and writer, whose book ‘The Water Babies’ not only became a classic children’s story, but also a force for social change in the form of improved working conditions for boy chimney-sweeps.

Charles Lamb (1775 – 1834) was an accomplished writer and essayist, best remembered for ‘Tales from Shakespeare’, a rewriting of the plays which made them more accessible for children. He wrote them with his sister, Mary (1764 – 1834), he, the tragedies, she, the comedies.

The greatest wish of Edith Nesbit (1858 – 1924) was to be remembered as a poet, but her poetry, like much of her adult fiction, is long forgotten. She came to write children’s stories in later life, and was a responsible for a string of enduring titles, the most notable being ‘The Railway Children’. She has been described as ‘the first modern writer for children’, although Wordsworth readers have also been introduced to her talents as a writer of supernatural fiction.