Harold Edward Bindloss

Harold Edward Bindloss (1866 – December 30, 1945) was an English novelist who wrote many adventure novels set in western Canada.

Bindloss circa 1909

Bindloss was born in Liverpool in 1866. According to his New York Times obituary:

Mr Bindloss was more than 30 years old before he began writing. Previously he had roamed the world, farming in Canada and working in southern climes as a cargo heaver, a planter, and at other jobs.

Broken by malaria he returned to England forty-five years ago and took up office work. But he lost his job when his health broke down and turned to writing in which he found his true vocation. He published some forty novels between the years 1902 and 1943. Many of his books had their locale in Canada.[1]

He returned to London. In 1898, he published his first book, a non-fiction account based on his travels in Africa, called In the Niger Country. This was followed by dozens of novels.

He was a popular writer. One reviewer writes:

A new book by Harold Bindloss is always welcome. He tells a story well indeed, but one likes his books best perhaps for the environment which he knows so well how to sketch. He has written charming stories of the Canadian Northwest and one remembers with pleasure his novels Prescott of Saskatchewan and Winston of the Prairie.[2]

The town of Bindloss, in the Canadian province of Alberta, was named after him.[3]

Bindloss died in Carlisle, England.