William Samuel Lilly

William Samuel Lilly (10 July 1840 to 29 August 1919) was an English barrister who was also a man of letters. Born at Fifehead, Dorset, he was educated at Peterhouse, Cambridge, completing an LL.B. degree in 1862, and an LL.M. in 1870. Having ben privately tuitired by Sir Adolphus William Ward, he joined the Indian civil service, and in 1869 became secretary to the government of Madras. However, owing to failing health, he returned to England, where he began a career in literature. Owing to his wide-range of intellectual interests, Lilly sometimes wrote for major publications of the time, including The Nineteenth Century, The Dublin Review, The Contemporary Review,  Popular Science Monthly, and The Fortnightly Review. Lilly converted to Roman Catholicism, and beginning in 1874 was secretary to the Catholic Union of Great Britain.