Kate Pritchard

Hesketh Pritchard

Major Hesketh Vernon Prichard, DSO MC FRGS FZS was born on the 17th November 1876 in Jhansi, North-Western Provinces, India, then part of the British Empire.

His achievements in life, beyond his literary career, are both voluminous and startling.

He was an explorer, adventurer, marksman, game hunter and first-class cricketer. In his literary career he wrote short stories, novels, travel pieces and was also a newspaper correspondent.

His father died a few weeks before his birth and his mother, Kate, with whom he co-authored much of his literary output raised him herself. They returned to England where he was educated and excelled at cricket. After school he trained to be a lawyer but never practiced. At 19 he was publishing the first of his stories. 

Over the following years he was commissioned to write many pieces as he explored and journeyed around the world including to Haiti, Labrador and Patagonia, where little was known and he thought it his duty to investigate and inform others of his findings. On some of these his mother also travelled with him as they continued their literary journey.

He managed to become part of the Great War effort at 37, although was considered too old for front line duty. Instead he turned his skills to helping establish an Army school of Snipers to mitigate and improve the skills of British snipers and their then appalling losses. In this he was eventually successful and is credited with the saving of thousands of lives.

Hesketh Prichard died from sepsis on the 14th June 1922, at Old Gorhambury House, in Hertfordshire, England. He was 45.

His mother, Kate, survived him and died in 1935.

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