Blackwood, Algernon

British writer Algernon Blackwood was born in the South East London district of Shooter’s Hill. In 1871 his family relocated to nearby Crayford. Both parents were stout Calvinists. In his teens, Blackwood broke away from their faith and embraced Buddhist teachings, thus forming a life-long penchant for oriental mysticism, occultism and theosophy. He studied at Wellington College in Berkshire and, at the request of his father, also at the Moravian Brethren’s community in Bavaria.