14 Nov HG Wells
HG Wells was born in 1866 in south London. He began writing at an early age and his first four novels established his reputation as the “Father of Science Fiction”: The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), The War of the Worlds (1898). All were successfully adapted as screenplays for feature films. In the 1930s Wells spent some time in Hollywood, where he wrote the screenplays for Things to Come (1936) – based on his novel The Shape of Things to Come (1953) – and The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1936), adapting his 1898 short story of the same name.
Wells died in 1946 at the age of 79. His body was cremated and the ashes scattered at sea. His only significant English memorials are the 3.5-mile HG Wells Heritage Trail and statue in Woking (30 miles southwest of London). Wells had lived there in 1885-86, during which time he wrote his early masterpieces (published ten years later). Wells is also associated with Uppark, a splendid 18th Century country house in Sussex, owned and managed by the National Trust. Wells’ mother worked as housekeeper there for a time and her young son had the run of the library.