MASON, Alfred Edward Woodley (AEW) 1865-1948. Author. Mason was the youngest son of William Woodley Mason, a chartered accountant. Born in Camberwell, his parents moved to Everleigh, Dulwich Wood Park in 1878. He was educated at Dulwich College between 1878 and 1884. His ‘home in a garden of trees’ is described in The Summons, and his teenage years in Dulwich are reflected also in his unpublished final novel. He is best known for the ‘Hornblower’ series of novelsHe was MP for Coventry 1906-1910 but is best known as a writer. In 1946 he became President of the Alleyn Club and published his last book with the title of ‘The House in Lordship Lane’. According to EV Lucas, his laugh was ‘famous in both hemispheres’. He declined to accept a knighthood and died in Westminster.
Patrick Darby and Bernard Nurse