Robert neill author biography essay

British writer (1907–1979)

Robert Geoffrey Neill (19 November 1905 – 1979)^[1] was an English writer of historical fiction, best known for his debut novel, Mist over Pendle, published in 1951, which has remained in print since first appearing.

The novel presents a fictional account of the events leading up to the famous Pendle witches trial in 1612.

Robert neill author biography essay

Life and career

Neill was born in Prestwich, Lancashire, England,^[2][3] into a family with long-standing local connections. His great-grandfather, also called Robert Neill, was a former Mayor of Manchester (two terms, 1866–68), though his mother came from Colne, in Central Lancashire, an area to which he would return continually in his novels.^{[citation needed]}

Neill was educated at King Edward VII School, Lytham, on the Lancashire coast, before reading Natural Science at Cambridge (a choice he would later describe as a mistake).

He became a research worker for t