Andrew Norman Wilson (born 27 October 1950) is an English writer and newspaper columnist known for his critical biographies, novels and works of popular history. He is an occasional columnist for the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

'' and a former columnist for the London ''

Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free newspaper, free of charge in London, Engl ...

''. He has been an occasional contributor to ''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

'', ''

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

'', ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'' and ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

''.

Early life and education

Wilson was born on 27 October 1950 in

Stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

."A. N. Wilson"
''Encyclopædia Britannica''. His father became the managing director of

Wedgwood Wedgwood is an English China (material), fine china, porcelain and luxury accessories manufacturer that was founded on 1 May 1759 by the potter and entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood and was first incorporated in 1895 as Josiah Wedgwood and Sons L ...

, the pottery company. He was first educated at the independent Catholic day school, St Dominic's Priory School, Stone before moving to Hillstone School (subsequently incorporated into

Malvern College Malvern College is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging coeducational boarding school, boarding and day school in Malvern, Worcestershire, Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It is a public school (United Kingdom), public school ...

) in

Great Malvern Great Malvern is an area of the civil parish of Malvern, Worcestershire, Malvern, in the Malvern Hills District, Malvern Hills district, in the county of Worcestershire, England. It lies at the foot of the Malvern Hills, a designated Area of O ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

, and then at

Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...

from the age of 13, where he read Mao and

Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

in his spare time. While at Rugby, he wrote an article for the school magazine arguing that

public schools Public school may refer to: *Public school (government-funded), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government *Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging private schools in England and Wales *Great Public Schools, ...

should be abolished. The national press became interested in the story, with the ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...

'' headlining its account "Red rebel in Tom Brown's school". "Reporters arrived at the school gates, wanting to interview me, but my housemaster, wisely, would not let me talk to them", Wilson told

Hunter Davies Edward Hunter Davies (born 7 January 1936) is a British author, journalist and broadcaster. His books include the only authorised biography of the Beatles. Early life Davies was born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, to Scottish parents. For four ...

in 1993. Wilson went to

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

, graduating in 1972. He had originally entered

St Stephen's House, Oxford St Stephen's House is an external theological college with observer status at the University of Oxford, affiliated with the Church of England. From 2003 to 2023 it was a permanent private hall of the University of Oxford. The college typicall ...

, a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

seminary, with the intention of being ordained as a priest, but left the college after only one year of study, and five years after graduation published the novel ''Unguarded Hours'' (1978) based upon his experiences at the seminary and his perception of its homoerotic atmosphere. Wilson taught English at

Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood Merchant Taylors' School is an 11–18 boys Public school (United Kingdom), public day school, founded in 1561 in London. The school has occupied various campuses. From 1933 it has been at Sandy Lodge, a site close to Northwood, London, Nort ...

, for two years and then spent seven years as a lecturer in medieval literature at

St Hugh's College St Hugh's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It is located on a site on St Margaret's Road, to the north of the city centre. It was founded in 1886 by Elizabeth Wordsworth as a ...

and New College, Oxford.

Publications

A prolific journalist and author of nonfiction, Wilson has also written over 20 works of fiction, for which he has won the Somerset Maugham Prize and the

John Llewellyn Rhys Prize The John Llewellyn Rhys Prize was a literary prize awarded annually for the best work of literature (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, or drama) by an author from the Commonwealth aged 35 or under, written in English and published in the United Kin ...

. His novels also include such historical works as ''The Potter's Hand'' (a study of the family life of

Josiah Wedgwood Josiah Wedgwood (12 July 1730 – 3 January 1795) was an English potter, entrepreneur and abolitionist. Founding the Wedgwood company in 1759, he developed improved pottery bodies by systematic experimentation, and was the leader in the indu ...

), '' Resolution'', a fictional account of Captain James Cook's second voyage, and ''

Scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way a ...

'', about the

Profumo affair The Profumo affair was a major scandal in British politics during the early 1960s. John Profumo, the 46-year-old Secretary of State for War in Harold Macmillan's Conservative government, had an extramarital affair with the 19-year-old model ...

. His 2007 novel ''Winnie and Wolf'', about the relationship between

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

and

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

's English daughter-in-law Winifred, was long-listed for the

Man Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...

. Novels set in the present include ''The Vicar of Sorrows'' (1993), about a clergyman who has lost his faith dealing with the death of his mother, and '' Dream Children'' (1998), about

paedophilia Pedophilia ( alternatively spelled paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of pube ...

. In the early 1990s, in the wake of the fatwa on Salman Rushdie and the continuing

troubles in Northern Ireland The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed ...

, Wilson published a pamphlet, ''Against Religion'', in the

Chatto & Windus Chatto & Windus is an imprint of Penguin Random House that was formerly an independent book publishing company founded in London in 1855 by John Camden Hotten. Following Hotten's death, the firm would reorganize under the names of his busines ...

CounterBlasts series. He wrote biographies of Jesus and St Paul as well as a history of

atheism Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the Existence of God, existence of Deity, deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the ...

in the 19th century titled ''God's Funeral'', describing its growth as due to influences ranging from

David Hume David Hume (; born David Home; – 25 August 1776) was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist who was best known for his highly influential system of empiricism, philosophical scepticism and metaphysical naturalism. Beg ...

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...

. These and many other of his books, such as those on

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...

(

Whitbread Award The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then ...

for best biography of 1988),

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer, literary scholar and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Magdalen College, Oxford (1925–1954), and Magdalen ...

and

Hilaire Belloc Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc ( ; ; 27 July 187016 July 1953) was a French-English writer, politician, and historian. Belloc was also an orator, poet, sailor, satirist, writer of letters, soldier, and political activist. His Catholic fait ...

, are simultaneously sympathetic to religious belief and critical of it. In August 2006, Wilson's biography of Sir

John Betjeman Sir John Betjeman, (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architect ...

was published. It was then discovered that he had been the victim of a hoax perpetrated by Betjeman's disgruntled biographer

Bevis Hillier Bevis Hillier (born 28 March 1940) is an English art historian, author and journalist. He has written on Art Deco, and also a biography of John Betjeman, Sir John Betjeman. Life and work Hillier was born in Redhill, Surrey. In 1947 the family ...

. Wilson had included in the book a letter (to Anglo-Irish writer Honor Tracy), purportedly by Betjeman, detailing a previously unknown love affair. Wilson acknowledged the letter to be a fiction when it was pointed out that it contained an

acrostic An acrostic is a poem or other word composition in which the ''first'' letter (or syllable, or word) of each new line (or paragraph, or other recurring feature in the text) spells out a word, message or the alphabet. The term comes from the Fre ...

spelling out an insulting message to him: "AN Wilson is a shit". In 2001, Wilson published ''Dante in Love'', a study of the Italian poet

Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

as an artist and philosopher, also portraying medieval

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

in depth to help readers understand the literary and cultural background of ''

The Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' (, ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun and completed around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of the greatest wor ...

''. In addition to his biographies, Wilson has written four books covering entire eras, ''The Victorians'' (2002), ''After the Victorians'' (2005), ''Our Times'' (2008), and ''The Elizabethans'' (2011).

Critiques of Wilson's work

Lynn Barber Lynn Barber (born 22 May 1944) is a British journalist who has worked for many publications, including ''The Sunday Times''. Early life Barber was born in Bagshot and attended Lady Eleanor Holles School in southwest London. While she was stud ...

of ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' wrote that "Wilson's forte is the character and he brilliantly conveys Betjeman's odd mixture of introspection and sociability, gaiety and melancholia, exhibition and self-disgust". In ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' (London), James Marriott called Wilson's book ''Resolution'' "a work of genius".

Kathryn Hughes Kathryn Hughes (born 1959) is a British academic, journalist and biographer. She is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Royal Society of Literature. Life She was educated at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University and the Univer ...

wrote in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' of Wilson's biography of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

, ''Victoria: A Life'', "Subtle, thoughtful ... a shimmering and rather wonderful biography."

Daisy Goodwin Daisy Georgia Goodwin (born 19 December 1961) is an English screenwriter, TV producer and novelist. She is the creator of the ITV/ PBS show '' Victoria'' which has sold to 146 countries. She has written four novels: ''My Last Duchess'' or ''Th ...

in ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' review wrote: "This won't be the last biography of Victoria but it is certainly the most interesting and original in a long time." Wilson's '' Hitler: A Short Biography'' was criticised by the historian

Richard J. Evans Sir Richard John Evans (born 29 September 1947) is a British historian of 19th- and 20th-century Europe with a focus on Germany. He is the author of eighteen books, including his three-volume '' The Third Reich Trilogy'' (2003–2008). Evans was ...

in a review in the ''

'' for inaccuracies and lack of original research and analysis, as well as personal biases. In his review of ''The Laird of Abbotsford'' for ''

Cencrastus ''Cencrastus'' was a magazine devoted to Scottish and international literature, arts and affairs, founded after the Referendum of 1979 by students, mainly of Scottish literature, at Edinburgh University, and with support from Cairns Craig, then a ...

'', David McKie observed that "Concluding with

Chesterton Chesterton may refer to: People *Chesterton (surname) **G. K. Chesterton **A. K. Chesterton **Cecil Chesterton **Frank Chesterton (architect) Places United Kingdom *Chesterton, Cambridge **Chesterton railway station * Chesterton, Gloucestershir ...

that the superficial impression of the world is by far the deepest, Wilson underpins his notions of

Scott Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Sas ...

with the same paradoxical hope." Wilson's biography ''Charles Darwin, Victorian Mythmaker'' (2017), was criticised by

John van Wyhe John van Wyhe (born 1971), is a British historian of science, with a focus on Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, at the National University of Singapore. He holds various academic and research positions, ranging from founder and director of ...

in ''

New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a popular science magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organ ...

'' for confusing Darwin's theory of

natural selection Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the Heredity, heritable traits characteristic of a population over generation ...

with

Lamarckism Lamarckism, also known as Lamarckian inheritance or neo-Lamarckism, is the notion that an organism can pass on to its offspring physical characteristics that the parent organism acquired through use or disuse during its lifetime. It is also calle ...

at one point, as well as other scientific, historical and editorial errors. Kathryn Hughes in ''The Guardian'' called it a "cheap attempt to ruffle feathers", with a dubious grasp of science and attempted

character assassination Character assassination (CA) is a deliberate and sustained effort to damage the reputation or credibility of an individual. The term ''character assassination'' became popular around 1930. This concept, as a subject of scholarly study, was origi ...

. In the ''

'', Adrian Woolfson wrote that "while for the greater part a lucid, elegantly written and thought-provoking social and intellectual history", Wilson's "speculations on evolutionary theory" produce a book that is "fatally flawed, mischievous, and ultimately misleading".

Steve Jones Steve or Steven Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Steve Jones (English presenter) (born 1945), English musician, disk jockey, television presenter, and voice-over artist *Steve Jones (musician) (born 1955), English rock and roll guitar ...

, an emeritus professor of genetics of

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

, commented in ''The Sunday Times'': "In the classic mould of the contrarian, he despises anything said by mainstream biology in favour of marginal and sometimes preposterous theories." The geneticist and former editor of ''Nature'',

Adam Rutherford Adam David Rutherford (born January 1975) is a British geneticist and science populariser. He was an audio-visual content editor for the journal ''Nature'' for a decade, and is a frequent contributor to the newspaper ''The Guardian''. He former ...

, called the book "deranged" and said Wilson "would fail

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

biology catastrophically."

Personal life

Wilson married the Shakespearean scholar

Katherine Duncan-Jones Katherine Dorothea Duncan-Jones (13 May 1941 – 16 October 2022) was an English literature and Shakespeare scholar and was also a Fellow of New Hall, Cambridge (1965–1966), and then Somerville College, Oxford (1966–2001). She was also Prof ...

in 1971, before his graduation. They had two daughters, Emily Wilson (born 1971) and Beatrice "Bee" Wilson (born 1974), and divorced in 1990. he was married to the art historian Ruth Guilding, with whom he has a third daughter, the painter Georgina "Georg" Wilson.

Bibliography

Books

Non-fiction

* ''The Laird of Abbotsford: A View of Sir Walter Scott'' (1980) * ''The Life of John Milton: A Biography'' (1983) * ''Hilaire Belloc: A Biography'' (1985) * ''How Can We Know?'' (1985) * ''Penfriends from Porlock'' (1988) * ''Tolstoy: A Biography'' (1988) * ''C. S. Lewis: A Biography'' (1990) * ''Against Religion: Why We Should Live Without It'' (1991) * ''Jesus: A Life'' (1992) * ''The Faber Book of Church and Clergy'' (editor) (1992) * ''The Rise and Fall of the House of Windsor'' (1993) * ''Paul: The Mind of the Apostle'' (1997) * ''God's Funeral: The Decline of Faith in Western Civilization'' (1999) * ''The Victorians'' (2002) * ''Iris Murdoch As I Knew Her'' (2003) * ''London: A Short History'' (2004) * ''After the Victorians'' (2005) * ''Betjeman'' (2006) * ''Literary Genius: 25 Classic Writers Who Define English & American Literature'' (2007, illustrated by

Barry Moser Barry Moser (born 1940) is an American visual artist and educator, known as a printmaker specializing in wood engravings, and an illustrator of numerous works of literature. He is also the owner and operator of the Pennyroyal Press, an engraving a ...

) * ''Our Times'' (2008) * ''Dante in Love'' (2011) * ''The Elizabethans'' (2011) * '' Hitler: A Short Biography'' (2011) * ''Victoria: A Life'' (2014) * ''The Book of the People: How to Read the Bible'' (2015) * ''The Queen: The Life and Family of Queen Elizabeth II'' (2016) * ''Charles Darwin, Victorian Mythmaker'' (2017

* ''Prince Albert: The Man Who Saved the Monarchy'' (2019) * ''The Mystery of Charles Dickens'' (2020) * ''The King and the Christmas Tree'' (2021) * ''Confessions: A Life of Failed Promises'' (2022): autobiography * ''Goethe: His Faustian Life - The Extraordinary Story of Modern Germany, a Troubled Genius and the Poem that Made Our World'' (2024)

Fiction

* ''The Sweets of Pimlico'' (1977) * ''Unguarded Hours'' (1978) * ''Kindly Light'' (1979) * ''The Healing Art'' (1980) * ''Who Was Oswald Fish?'' (1981) * ''Wise Virgin'' (1982) * ''

'' (1983) * ''Gentlemen in England'' (1983) * ''Love Unknown'' (1986) * '' Stray (novel), Stray'' (1987) * ''The Vicar of Sorrows'' (1993) * ''The Tabitha Stories'' (1997) * '' Dream Children'' (1998) * '' My Name Is Legion'' (2004) * ''A Jealous Ghost'' (2005) * ''Winnie and Wolf'' (2007, long-listed for the 2007

) – fictional account of the relationship between

and

Winifred Wagner Winifred Marjorie Wagner (née Williams; 23 June 1897 – 5 March 1980) was the English-born wife of Siegfried Wagner, the son of Richard Wagner, and ran the Bayreuth Festival after her husband's death in 1930 until the end of World War II i ...

* ''The Potter's Hand'' (2012) * '' Resolution'' (2016) * ''Aftershocks'' (2018) ''The Lampitt Chronicles'' * ''Incline Our Hearts'' (1988) * ''A Bottle in the Smoke'' (1990) * ''Daughters of Albion'' (1991) * ''Hearing Voices'' (1995) * ''A Watch in the Night'' (1996)

Critical studies and reviews of Wilson's work

;''The Laird of Abbotsford'' * McKie, David (1980), ''A View from Above'', ''

'' No. 4, Winter 1980−81, p. 39

Broadcasting

Notes and references

External links

* James Atla
"'The Busy, Busy Wasp'"
''The New York Times'', 18 October 1992
'Sweetly Poisonous in a Welcome Way'
On ANW's biography of C. S. Lewis * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, A. N. 1950 births Living people 20th-century English male writers 20th-century English novelists 21st-century English male writers 21st-century English novelists Alumni of New College, Oxford Alumni of St Stephen's House, Oxford Charles Darwin biographers Converts to Anglicanism from atheism or agnosticism English biographers English historians English male novelists Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature John Llewellyn Rhys Prize winners English male biographers Non-Darwinian evolution People educated at Rugby School People from Stone, Staffordshire Walter Scott scholars Writers from Staffordshire