Q 01/05

In which Kent town was H. G. Wells born in 1866?

A) Canterbury

B) Maidstone

C) Bromley

D) Folkestone

Answer · why

C) Bromley

He was born at Atlas House on the High Street, the fourth child of a shopkeeper and cricketer.

Q 02/05

What did Wells's father Joseph do to earn an unsteady income besides keeping a china shop?

A) Drive a hansom cab around London

B) Play professional cricket for Kent

C) Sing comic songs in music halls

D) Repair clocks and pocket watches

Answer · why

B) Play professional cricket for Kent

A fractured femur in 1877 ended his cricket career and the family's main source of income.

Q 03/05

What childhood accident in 1874 turned young Wells into a devoted reader?

A) A near-drowning in the Thames

B) A fall from a runaway horse

C) A broken leg that left him bedridden

D) A long bout of scarlet fever

Answer · why

C) A broken leg that left him bedridden

His father brought him books from the local library to pass the time.

Q 04/05

Wells's miserable teenage apprenticeship at Hyde's Drapery Emporium in Southsea inspired which novels?

A) The Time Machine and The Invisible Man

B) Tono-Bungay and Ann Veronica

C) The War in the Air and The World Set Free

D) Kipps and The History of Mr Polly

Answer · why

D) Kipps and The History of Mr Polly

He worked thirteen-hour days and slept in a dormitory; The Wheels of Chance also drew on the experience.

Q 05/05

At which West Sussex country house, where his mother was a lady's maid, did H. G. Wells devour the library?

A) Chatsworth

B) Uppark

C) Petworth

D) Knole

Answer · why

B) Uppark

He read Plato's Republic, More's Utopia and Defoe there.