James Percy Fitzpatrick was born in King William's Town in 1862 and died on his Eastern Cape Farm, Amanzi, in 1931. He worked for the firm of H Eckstein and Co, later becoming a partner, and a director of Rand Mines Ltd. Always active in politics, he also found time to write several books besides the classic Jock of the Bushveld. His first book, Through Mashonaland with Pick and Pen, was published in 1892, followed by The Outspan: Tales of South Africa in 1897 and The Transvaal from Within in 1899.