George Douglas Brown
George Douglas Brown, who sometimes wrote under the pen
names Kennedy King and George Douglas, was born on 26th January
1869 in Ochiltree, Ayrshire, to George Douglas Brown, a farmer, and
Sarah Gemmel a farm-servant of Irish descent. He was educated at
local schools in Ochiltree and Coylton, later attending Ayr Academy
from 1883. From 1887-1890 he studied at the University of Glasgow,
taking a First in Classics. In 1891 he won a scholarship to Balliol
College, Oxford. Although maintaining his academic record, he did
not enjoy Oxford, feeling that he did not fit in socially. Before
he was due to sit his final examinations, he returned to Ayrshire
to nurse his mother in her last illness; the consequent mixture of
stress and grief contributed to his taking only a third class
degree in the examinations of 1895.
Brown settled in London and made his living by
journalism and teaching. In 1899 he publishedLove and a Sword under the pen
name "Kennedy King". He contributed a mixture of short fictions and
critical articles to various journals including Blackwood's
magazine. In the autumn of 1900 he began writing the book for which
he became famous, The House
with the Green Shutters . Brown's health failed in 1902
and he died at the London home of his friend Andrew Melrose. He was
buried in Ayr, beside his mother.
