Alfred Ollivant

Who was Alfred Ollivant?

Alfred Ollivant was an English novelist best known for his children's classic Bob, Son of Battle. Ollivant also wrote about a dozen other novels ranging from small-scale cautionary tales to grand historical epics.

Alfred Ollivant was born in Nuthurst, Sussex, in 1874 and became an author after a horse-riding injury ending his brief military career. Bob, Son of Battle, his first novel, was published in 1898. Set in rural Cumbria, in northern England, the novel centers on a suspected sheepkilling collie Bob. Even though most of the book's dialogue is written in the Cumbrian dialect, it gained a popular following in the United States. Ollivant even published a sequel, Danny, in 1902. He was also a short story contributor to The Atlantic Monthly and the Boston Evening Transcript. Alfred Ollivant died in London on January 19, 1927.