Pseudonym of Arthur Henry Ward. He was born in Birmingham but shortly after his birth, his parents moved to London. His schooling was mostly done by his father. At an early age he started writing stories and these were sent to various periodicals. Unfortunately these stories met no succes. After school he found a job with the Hong Kong and Shanghai bank. In 1903 he left the bank and became a newspaper reporter. He wrote two stories which were accepted by a magazine. After that he began writing for the stage. His short story writing also continued. In 1913 his first 'Fu Manchu' novel was published. It was an instant succes. His second and third novel were also successes. After the First World War he stopped writing Fu Manchu stories. Instead he concentrated on occult and non-occult novels. The 1930s saw a resurrection of Fu Manchu and nearly every year a new novel was published. His last years were not comfortable. He died as a result of complications after he contracted Asiatic 'flu.