Yates, Dornford

Born Cecil William Mercer, into a middle class Victorian family with many skeletons in the closet, including his great-uncle's conviction for embezzlement from a law firm and subsequent suicide, Yates' parents somehow scraped enough money together to send him to Harrow. The son of a solicitor, he qualified as a barrister whilst still finding time to contribute stories to the 'Windsor Magazine'. After the First World War, however, he gave up legal work in favour of writing full time. It had become his great passion, and he went on to complete some thirty books. These ranged from light-hearted f...