Crest of King's College

For there was nothing gloomy or gothic about James the man; he was highly extroverted and sociable, and noted for the number and quality of his friendships, although he never married.He was an enthusiastic traveller on the continent, and his journeys provided him with the backgrounds to several of his stories.The inspiration behind them was derived from his interest s and surroundings, which also furnished him with the scholarly asides which are scattered throughout his tales, and which give them their ring of authenticity.

About the possibility of ‘genuine’ supernatural manifestations he was, by his own account, open minded - “ I am prepared to consider evidence and accept it if it satisfies me.” There is, however, no evidence that such an acceptance was ever made.He certainly had no interest in the contemporary activities of the Society for Psychical Research.

His introduction to ghosts had taken place at an early age. He described it in an Evening Standard article in 1931.

“What first interested me in ghosts? This I can tell you quite definitely. In my childhood I chanced to see a toy Punch and Judy set, with figures cut out in cardboard.One of these was The Ghost. It was a tall figure habited in white with an unnaturally long and narrow head, also surrounded with white, and a dismal visage.
Upon this my conceptions of a ghost were based, and for years it permeated my dreams.”

Crest of Eton College

World War One marked the beginning of the end of James’ golden years at King’s. The voracious demand of the trenches for young men drained the college of its vitality, and grim tidings of the fates of its former scholars, arriving constantly, must have made it a depressing place in which to live and work.In 1918 he accepted the post of Provost of Eton College, in which he was to be both happy and successful. He was awarded the Order of Merit in 1930, and died in 1936.