Hector Hugh Munro was born 18 December, 1870 in Akyab, Burma, son of Scotsman Charles Augustus

Munro, an inspector-general in the Burma police and his mother, Mary Frances (née Mercer) who died
in a tragic accident in England with a runaway cow in 1872. He had a brother Charles and sister Ethel
(who like Hector would never marry).

After the death of Munro's mother, the children were sent to Broadgate Villa, in Pilton village near
Barnstaple, North Devon to be raised by aunts who frequently resorted to corporal punishment. It is
said that they were most likely models for a few of his characters, notably Sredni Vashtar. Munro's
first book, a historical treatise called The Rise of the Russian Empire was released in 1900. His
collection of short stories Not-so-Stories came out in 1902.

often compared to O. Henry and Dorothy Parker. Influenced by Oscar Wilde, Lewis Carroll and Rudyard
Kipling,