R. H. Benson, (Robert Hugh Benson) Biography

The Very Reverend (1871–1914), British writer, younger brother of A. C. and E. F. Benson, son of E. W. Benson, Archbishop of Canterbury. Ordained in the Anglican Church, he became a Roman Catholic in 1903 and rose to high office in the priesthood. Like his brothers he was a prolific writer, producing many novels, some of which were apocalyptic (The Lord of the World, 1907), some historical (Come Rack! Come Rope!, 1912), and some concerned with contemporary moral dilemmas, featuring virtuous Roman Catholics, as in The Sentimentalists (1906), about saving a nearly lost soul, and The Average Man (1913). He also wrote books on religion, and was briefly a friend and collaborator of F. W. Rolfe.