William Pett Ridge

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William Pett Ridge (1857 - 1930), English author, was born at Chartham, near Canterbury, and was educated at Marden, Kent, and at the Birkbeck Institute, London.

He was for some time a clerk in the Railway Clearing House, and began about 1891 to write humorous sketches for the St James's Gazette and other papers.

He secured his first striking success, in volume form, with Mord Em'ly (1898), an excellent example of his ability to draw humorous portraits of lower class life.

His later books include:

  • A Son of the State (1899)
  • A Breaker of Laws (1900)
  • Lost Property (1902)
  • Erb (1903)
  • Mrs Caler's Business (1905)
  • The Wickhamses (1906)

William Pett Ridge also wrote Four small plays (which in total is one play, for four small plays is its title), one of the originals is in ownership of direct descendants.


This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.