Table d'Hôte

William Pett Ridge was born at Chartham, near Canterbury, Kent on 22nd April 1859. His family’s resources were certainly limited. His father was a railway porter, and his son, after schooling in Marden, Kent became a clerk in a railway clearing-house. The hours were long and arduous, but self-improvement was his goal. After working from nine until seven o’clock he attended evening classes at Birkbeck Literary and Scientific Institute and then he would write. From 1891 his humourous sketches were