8th March: Kenneth Grahame

Kenneth Grahame, who wrote Wind in the Willows, was born on this date in 1859. Here are 10 things you might not know about him.

1. His mother died from childbirth when he was five and his father had a drink problem, so from that age, he and his siblings were brought up by their grandmother in Cookham in Berkshire. Their uncle introduced him to boating on the River Thames, and this may have inspired the setting for Wind in the Willows.
2. Kenneth Grahame was Secretary of the Bank of England. He wanted to go to university in Oxford but his family couldn't afford to send him there and sent him out to work at the Bank instead, where he rose through the ranks until he became Secretary.
3. While he was working at the bank, he was involved in a shooting incident, thought to be political in nature rather than a robbery - Grahame was shot at three times. Luckily for him the shooters were rotten shots and all the shots missed.
4. His retirement in 1908 was thought to be because he never quite recovered from the shooting incident, although it could have been that it was the result of a disagreement with future Governor of the Bank of England, Walter Cunliffe, who Grahame described as "no gentleman".
5. He started writing professionally in his 20s and had several stories published in London periodicals. Some of these stories were published as a collection called Pagan Papers in 1893. Two more story collections followed, The Golden Age and Dream Days. The latter contained his second most famous work, The Reluctant Dragon.
6. Grahame and his wife Elspeth had one son, Alastair. Although Alastair's nickname was "Mouse", it is generally thought he was the inspiration for Mr Toad. Wind in the Willows grew from the bedtime stories Grahame told his son. Sadly, Alastair committed suicide by throwing himself under a train at 19, although the official reports, out of respect for his father, recorded it as an accidental death.
7. Mapledurham House and Hardwick House in Oxfordshire both claim to be the inspiration for Toad Hall. The village of Lerryn, Cornwall claims to be the setting for the book.
8. Chapter 7 of Wind in the Willows is called The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, and this has inspired a number of legendary musicians. Pink Floyd's first album was named after it, as was a song by Van Morrison. Iron Maiden also include the chapter title in their song, The Wicker Man.
9. The book also inspired the name, a "messabout", which is a get together for people who like boats in order to talk about boats and "mess about" in them. It comes from the line in Wind in the Willows: "There is nothing — absolutely nothing — half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats."
10. Grahame's epitaph reads "To the beautiful memory of Kenneth Grahame, husband of Elspeth and father of Alastair, who passed the river on the 6th of July, 1932, leaving childhood and literature through him the more blest for all time". It was written by his cousin, Anthony Hope, also an author.