Robert Smith Surtees

Robert Smith Surtees
Robert Smith Surtees (1805–1864) was an English novelist and sporting writer, best known for his humorous depictions of rural life and hunting culture. He is particularly famous for his character Mr. Jorrocks, a vulgar but likable grocer and sportsman, featured in works like "Handley Cross" and "Jorrocks' Jaunts and Jollities." Surtees' writing often satirized the upper-class and their obsession with hunting, combining wit and keen observation of society. His other notable works include "Hillingdon Hall" and "Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour."

Author's Books:


CHAPTER I OUR HERO t was a murky October day that the hero of our tale, Mr. Sponge, or Soapey Sponge, as his good-natured friends call him, was seen mizzling along Oxford Street, wending his way to the West. Not that there was anything unusual in Sponge being seen in Oxford Street, for when in town his daily perambulations consist of a circuit, commencing from the Bantam Hotel in Bond Street into... more...

I. THE SWELL AND THE SURREY What true-bred city sportsman has not in his day put off the most urgent business—perhaps his marriage, or even the interment of his rib—that he might "brave the morn" with that renowned pack, the Surrey subscription foxhounds? Lives there, we would ask, a thoroughbred, prime, bang-up, slap-dash, break-neck, out-and-out artist, within three miles of the Monument,... more...