Ernest William Hornung

Mr. Justice Raffles Ernest William Hornung

Ernest William Hornung, was an English author, most famous for writing the Raffles series of novels about a Gentleman thief in late Victorian London. In addition to his novels and short stories Hornung wrote some good war verse, and a play based on the Raffles stories was produced successfully and was "a man of large and generous nature, a delightful companion and conversationalist". The model for Raffles was George Ives, a Cambridge-educated criminologist and talented cricketer acording to Lycett. Ives was a discreet gay, and although Hornung "may not have understood this sexual side of Ives' character", Raffles "enjoys a remarkably intimate relationship with his sidekick Bunny Manders."