Excerpt: I am writing this story at the wish of many friends, who tell me it is my duty so to do. Certain stories have been afloat, which are anything but true, and it has been urged upon me again and again to set down in plain terms the true history of events which have set people's tongues wagging. I must confess that, in spite of the pleasure I have in recalling the memories of past years, it is with great diffidence that I at last commence my work. Not because I have any difficulty in remembering what took place. My memory, thank God, is as good as ever, and the principal scenes in my history are as clear to me as if they happened yesterday. It is not that. The truth is I was never clever at putting things on paper, and somehow, while the facts are clear enough in my mind, I feel a great difficulty in relating those facts in a way that is clear and understandable. You see I have lived an open-air life, and have spent more hours with the bridle-reins in my hands than the pen, and although I had a fair amount of schooling I was never considered a quick learner. Still, as John Major said to me only yesterday, it seems a duty to clear up certain matters which are altogether misunderstood, and what is more, to clear my name from scandal. Moreover, as he truly insisted, there are others besides myself upon whom clouds rest, and one especially about whom the truth ought to be told.
Joseph Hocking (7 November 1860 - 4 March 1937) was a Cornish novelist and United Methodist Free Church minister. He was born at St Stephen-in-Brannel, Cornwall, to James Hocking, part owner of a tin mine, and his wife Elizabeth. In 1884, he was ordained as a minister. Working in different parts of England over the next few years, he wrote his first novel, Harry Penhale - The Trial of his Faith, while in London in 1887. He regarded fiction as a highly effective medium for conveying his Christian message to the public, and combined his writing with his church duties, until ill health forced him to resign from the ministry in 1909. His last pastoral charge was the large and important United Free Church at Woodford Essex, which he was instrumental in having rebuilt by the advanced arts and crafts architect, Charles Harrison Townsend. On his recovery, he found himself a much sought-after preacher across Britain, and he travelled extensively in the Middle East. He continued to write, and over the course of his career, he was the author of nearly 100 books. Although largely forgotten now, he was tremendously popular in his day. He died in St Ives, Cornwall, and was survived by his wife, Annie, who he had married in 1887, and four daughters, three of whom become published novelists in their own right (Anne Hocking, Elizabeth Nisot and Joan Shill). A son, Cuthert, was killed in World War I. Through his mother he was related to the biblical scholar John Kitto. His brother was Silas Hocking (1850-1935), also a novelist and Methodist minister, and his sister, Salome (1859-1927), was also a novelist. Hocking features as one of the main characters in the 2009 play Surfing Tommies by Cornish playwright, Alan M. Kent. Joseph Hocking's ashes were buried in the churchyard of St Stephen-in-Brannel.
