404 Marton Road
Introduction
The photograph on this page of 404 Marton Road by Mick Garratt as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
404 Marton Road
Image: © Mick Garratt Taken: 22 Oct 2008
Formerly named 'Erdely' this building was the birthplace of Ernest W. Hornung, brother-in-law to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, friends with George Bernard Shaw and Oscar Wilde and an eminent author in his own right. Perhaps his most well known works are the Raffles stories. Raffles was a likeable gentlemanly rogue and have been made into a number of films: a silent movie in 1917 and later a remake in 1930. In 1939 David Niven played Raffles with Olivia de Havilland as his leading lady. Hornung's friendship with Oscar Wilde was close but became strained after Wilde was disgraced. Although Hornung's son was christened Oscar only days after Wilde was imprisoned. Ernest Hornung published under 'E.W. Hornung' and it is reported that a mix up with the initials on one occasion lead his friend Wilde to stress upon the importance of being Ernest. Whether this lead Wilde to a title for his most famous play is speculation. This photo is of the rear of the building taken from a small housing estate built on the former grounds of the house. The front aspect from Marton Road is now obscured by trees.
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
54.559326
Longitude
-1.222315