. John Buchan (1875-1940) was a Scottish writer, barrister and politician—Governor-General of Canada between 1935 and 1940—who wrote prodigiously. He was brought up in Kirkcaldy, Fife, and spent many summer holidays with his maternal grandparents in Broughton in the Scottish Borders.There he developed a love for walking and for the local scenery and wildlife, both of … Although John Buchan clearly had the idea to write another story before his holiday, if he hadn’t come to Broadstairs, been taken ill and later seen the underground staircase at North Foreland, we might not have The Thirty-Nine Steps. He came under fire on the Somme in 1916,8 and in volume 12 of Nelson's History of the War, which introduces the events of that year, he devoted a chap ter to a discussion of military morale, entitled 'the breaking point in Scottish novelist, historian, Unionist politician and 15th Governor General of Canada A second living quarter is pictured. ‘Beyond the Thirty-Nine Steps’: Tales That Still Cast a Spell Amid a busy career in politics and the press, John Buchan wrote dozens of lively historical novels and taut ‘shockers.’ John Buchan did not fight but he often wrote as though he had - as though he knew at first hand what combat was all about. . During this appointment, John wrote his second McCunn novel, Castle Gay. John Buchan was born in Perth, Scotland, as the eldest son of Rev. A lawyer and politician who became Governor General of Canada, he is probably most widely remembered as a prolific author of a wide range of fiction and non-fiction books, and most notably for bringing Richard Hannay to life in The Thirty-Nine Steps and the books that followed it in the series. Born in Perth, Scotland, in 1875, in his father’s simple, small and busy manse, John Buchan climbed to the top of his twin professions and scaled the pinnacle of recognition and renown. Buchan wrote Prester John in 1910, the first of his adventure novels set in South Africa, and the following year he suffered from duodenal ulcers, which also inspired one of his characters in later books. John Buchan and Helen (née Masterton) Buchan. John Buchan died in Montreal on 12 February 1940. Buchan was born in Perth, Scotland, the first child of John Buchan—a Free Church of Scotland minister—and Helen Jane Buchan. Quite a sobering thought when you consider what else we may have missed . Early life and education. A year after being appointed Governor-General of Canada in 1935, John saw the publication of the final Hannay novel, The Island of Sheep. John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir, 1875-1940. John Buchan lived from 26 August 1875 to 11 February 1940. He was known in particular for his adventure novels, above all those spy novels featuring Richard Hannay, which started with The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915), set in a world just about to embark on the Great War. During his last years he worked on his autobiography, Memory Hold-the-Door. Taking this description in a figurative sense, few men can boast of having made a longer, more difficult ascent than did John Buchan. He studied at the University of Glasgow and Brasenose College, Oxford, where he had an outstanding career, winning the Stanhope Essay Prize in 1897 and the Newdigate Prize in the following year. Together, Buchan and his wife had four children, Alice, John, William, and Alastair, two of whom would spend most of their lives in Canada. John Buchan was born in Perth, Scotland, on August 26, 1875.