Richard Dodderidge Blackmore, 1825-1900

Blackmore was educated at Blundell's School, Tiverton, and Exeter College Oxford. He began his career as a lawyer, but occasional epileptic fits impeded his progress and instead he worked firstly as a schoolmaster and later as a fruit-grower at Teddington, where he lived for the rest of his life. Besides Lorna Doone, which was published in 1869, he published thirteen other novels, plus a number of short stories, poems and translations from the classics. He married Lucy Maguire, but had no children.

From the guide to the RD Blackmore Papers, c1850-1900, (University of Exeter)