Oliver Stonor

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Oliver Stonor (Frederic Field Stoner) (also known as Morchard Bishop, F. R. S. L.) (1903-1987), novelist, reviewer and man of letters, was born at Teddington on 3rd July 1903, the son of Alfred Hills Stoner and Sarah Louise Stoner. He was educated at Kingston Grammar School. His father and grandfather were Quantity Surveyors, and he was trained in this profession at the offices of the family firm in Broad Street, City of London. As soon as he was 21, he took up writing as a career in the 'Literary London' of the 1920s, though he later put the quantity surveying to good use in wartime.

He used the nom-de-plume Oliver Stonor, because it looked and sounded better than his own name, and the 'er' at the end of 'Oliver' clashed with his real surname of Stoner, hence the 'or' of Stonor. He was not related to the Stonor family of Stonor Park; the Stoners came originally from Cowfold in Sussex; his grandfather had bought Harcourt, near Pembury, in Kent.

In 1926, he visited the home of the writer Arthur Machen, who was living at Melina Place. He joined the wide and varied circle of those who sought out and admired Machen for his conversation, as well as for his writing; and when Machen and his wife Purefoy moved to Amersham, they stayed in touch.