Algernon Gissing

Algernon Fred Gissing (25 November 1860 – 5 February 1937) was an English novelist and the younger brother of George Gissing. He wrote twenty-five novels, two collections of short stories and several pieces of travel writing. He died from heart disease.

Gissing was born in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. His parents were Thomas Waller Gissing (1829-1870) and Margaret Gissing (1832-1913), and he had two older brothers named William and George. His initial education was at Back Lane School in Wakefield, but from 1870 he started attending Lindow Grove School in Cheshire as a boarder, as a result of his father's death. He went on to study Law at London University, graduating with an LLB in 1882. He practised as a solicitor in Wakefield for a while, but failed to attract enough clients to sustain his practise.

On 8 September 1887, Gissing married Catherine née Baseley (1859-1937), later moving with her to Broadway, Worcestershire. Together they had five children.

Having been unsuccessful in his legal career, Gissing decided to pursue an interest in writing literature. During his life, he wrote and published thirty books, but the income from these was negligible. He received a number of grants from the Royal Literary Fund.

In 1924, Gissing's Cotswold walking guide, The Footpath Way in Gloucestershire was published. This is one of the first walking guides for the Cotswolds.

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