Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson (1850-1894) was born in Edinburgh on the 13 November 1850. His father and grandfather were both successful engineers who built many of the lighthouses that dotted the Scottish coast, whilst his mother came from a family of lawyers and church ministers. A sickly boy whose mother was also often unwell, Stevenson spent much of his childhood with the family nurse, Alison Cunningham. She told him many ghost stories and supernatural tales which seem to resonate throughout Stevenson's later fiction, reappearing in several of his short-stories, such as 'The Body Snatchers', 'The Merry Men', and 'Thrawn Janet'. In 1867, Stevenson enrolled at Edinburgh University to study engineering. The choice of subject was influenced by Stevenson's father, who wished his son to continue the prestigious family tradition. Stevenson however had other ambitions, and even at this early stage, expressed a desire to write. He shortly changed courses and began to study law, but soon gave this up to concentrate on writing professionally, much to the displeasure of his father. By alberto (Ana Quiroga) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons Stevenson married...