Durbridge, Francis

The British crime writer Francis Durbridge was born in Hull in Yorkshire. He was educated at Bradford Grammar School in Bradford, and then at the University of Birmingham where he studied English and Economics and gained a degree in 1933. That same year he succeeded in selling his first radio playscript. He worked for a while at a stockbroking firm but subsequently devoted all his time to writing. In 1940, he married Norah Lawley, and they had two sons. He died in Barnes in London, where he had lived most of his adult life.