Novelist and London historian. Born Portsmouth. 1884 co-founded the Society of Authors. Secretary of the Palestine Exploration Fund. Originator of the People's Palace. First president of The Hampstead Antiquarian and Historical Society. Died at his house, Frognal End, in Frognal Gardens. Buried St John's Churchyard in Hampstead's nearby Church Row.
His younger brother Frank (1840–1917) was husband to Annie Besant. OOCities informs that, when that marriage failed, Walter and his wife took over the care of their son, Digby.
