What Might Have Been

Ernest Bramah (1868-1942) was an English novelist and author of short stories, and a journalist. He is chiefly remembered today for his Kai Lung tales, and his short stories about the blind detective Max Carrados. He was born in Hulme, Manchester, on 20 March 1868, the fourth child of textile worker Charles Clement Smith and his wife Susannah, whose maiden name was Brammah. Ernest later adopted and adapted this name to use only a single `m¿, as his nom de plume. His biographer describes the family as prosperous rather than wealthy, and Bramah was educated at Manchester Grammar School, where he was a very indifferent pupil. In 1897 he married Maisie Lucy Barker, who brought with her a settlement of £300 a year, enough to underwrite Bramah¿s developing writing career. The couple had no children, and Bramah died on 23 June, 1942, in Weston-Super-Mare in the west of England.