English poet Walter de la Mare (1873-1956), was born in Charlton, Kent to James Edward de la Mare (1811–1877), a principal at the Bank of England, and Lucy Sophia de la Mare née Browning (1838–1920), in 1873. He received his education at St. Paul’s Cathedral Choir School in London prior to working for the Anglo-American (Standard) Oil Company in London as a clerk. By 1907 de la Mare received a pension through the Civil List and was able to fully devote his time to his writing. De la Mare’s poetry was marked by its dreamlike, evanescent mood. De la Mare was additionally an author of children’s fiction; his children’s works include Number Four Joy Street, a collection he appeared in alongside Edward Plunkett, Lord Dunsany.

Lord Dunsany (1878 - 1957), was born in London to conservative MP John William Plunkett (1853 - 1899), later 17th Baron of Dunsany, and his wife Ernle Elizabeth Louisa Maria Grosvenor (1855-1916) in 1878. Dunsany eventually made his mark on the early twentieth-century Anglo-Irish literary scene and was most well known for his 1924 novel, The King of Elfland’s Daughter, considered the earliest work in the modern fantasy genre. In 1947 Dunsany left his estates in Meath to his son and retired to Shoreham in Kent.