Richard Doddridge Blackmore

Richard Doddridge Blackmore (Longworth, 1825 - Teddington, 1900) was an English novelist of the second half of the nineteenth century, often called the "Last Victorian." Today he is remembered mainly for one book, Lorna Doone, although he wrote a considerable body of fiction.

Much of his childhood was spent in Devon, and the Exmoor landscapes he knew there later filled his novels. He studied at Oxford and trained as a barrister, practising for a few years before ill health led him to devote himself to writing. He settled in Teddington, where he combined his literary work with fruit growing. He published poetry before turning to the novel. His fiction is known for vivid descriptions of the countryside and for historical settings, as in Springhaven, which is set during the Napoleonic Wars. He often placed his characters against a clear historical background, a method that links him to Walter Scott. Thomas Hardy admired his work, though the two men were also rivals.

His lasting contribution was a revival of romantic fiction set in rural landscapes, an approach that influenced later writers such as Robert Louis Stevenson.