E. C. Bentley was a popular English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 novelist and humorist of the early twentieth century, and the inventor of the clerihew

Clerihew

A clerihew is a whimsical, four-line biographical poem invented by Edmund Clerihew Bentley. One of his best known is this :* It is biographical and usually whimsical, showing the subject from an unusual point of view; it pokes fun at mostly famous people...

, an irregular form of humorous verse on biographical topics. One of the best known is this (1905):

Sir Christopher Wren

Said, "I am going to dine with some men.

If anyone calls

Say I am designing St. Paul's."

Born in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, and educated at St Paul's School and Merton College, Oxford

Merton College, Oxford

Merton College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor to Henry III and later to Edward I, first drew up statutes for an independent academic community and established endowments to...

, Edmund's father John Edmund Bentley

John Edmund Bentley

John Edmund Bentley was an English sportsman who played in the first international rugby football match in 1871, representing England as a halfback.-Early life:...

, was professionally a civil servant but was also a rugby union international having played in the first ever international match for England against Scotland in 1871.