Ernest William Hornung (1866-1921), commonly known as E. W. Hornung, was an English author and poet best known for creating the character A. J. Raffles, a gentleman thief in late Victorian London. Born into a middle-class family in Middlesbrough, Hornung spent most of his youth in England. His brother-in-law, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, significantly influenced Hornung's literary career, and Hornung h...