10 Facts About Hugh Lofting

Hugh John Lofting was an English-American writer, trained as a civil engineer, who created the classic children's literature character Doctor Dolittle.

The fictional physician to talking animals, based in an English village, first appeared in illustrated letters to his children which Lofting sent from British Army trenches in the First World War.

Hugh Lofting settled in the United States soon after the war and before his first book was published.

Hugh Lofting was born on 14 January 1886 in Maidenhead, Berkshire, to Elizabeth Agnes and John Brien Hugh Lofting, and was of English and Irish ancestry.

Hugh Lofting was educated at Mount St Mary's College in Spinkhill, Derbyshire.

Hugh Lofting travelled widely as a civil engineer before enlisting in the Irish Guards regiment of the British Army in the First World War.

Hugh Lofting was married three times and had three children, one of whom, his son Christopher, became the executor of his literary estate.

Hugh Lofting died on 26 September 1947 at his home in Topanga, California from cirrhosis of the liver.

Hugh Lofting is buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Killingworth, Middlesex County, Connecticut.

Eight novels completed by Hugh Lofting followed and two more books were edited after his death.