Crocker's Hole: From their pens to your ears, genius in every story

Richard Doddridge Blackmore was born on 7th June, 1825 at Longworth in Berkshire (now part of Oxfordshire), where his father, John Blackmore, was Curate-in-charge of the parish. His mother died a few months after his birth the victim of an outbreak of typhus. With this loss the family moved to Bushey, Hertfordshire, then on to their native Devon. His elder brother Richard (by a year), however, was taken by his aunt to live near Oxford. His father married again in 1831, whereupon Richard ret...