Editing Sax Rohmer (section)

== Life and work ==
Born in [[Birmingham]] to [[working class]] Irish parents William Ward (c. 1850–1932), a clerk, and Margaret Mary (née Furey; c. 1850–1901),<ref name="oxforddnb.com" /> Arthur Ward initially pursued a career as a civil servant before concentrating on writing full-time. He worked as a poet, songwriter and comedy sketch writer for [[music hall]] performers before creating the Sax Rohmer persona and pursuing a career writing fiction. {{citation needed|date=June 2014}}

Like his contemporaries [[Algernon Blackwood]] and [[Arthur Machen]], Rohmer claimed membership to one of the factions of the  [[Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn]].<ref>[[Leigh Blackmore]], [http://www.shadowplayzine.com/Articles/hermetic_horrors.htm"Hermetic Horrors: Weird Fiction Writers and the Order of the Golden Dawn"]</ref> Rohmer also claimed ties to the [[Rosicrucians]], but the validity of his claims has been questioned. His doctor and family friend Dr R. Watson Councell may have been his only legitimate connection to such organisations. {{citation needed|date=June 2014}}

His first published work was issued in 1903, when the short story "The Mysterious Mummy" was sold to ''[[Pearson's Weekly]]''. Rohmer's main literary influences seem to have been [[Edgar Allan Poe]], [[Arthur Conan Doyle]] and [[M. P. Shiel]].<ref name=ja /> He gradually transitioned from writing for music hall performers to concentrating on short stories and serials for magazine publication. In 1909 he married Rose Elizabeth Knox.

He published his first book ''Pause!'' anonymously in 1910.

In 1934, Sax Rohmer moved into a newly refurbished house, Little Gatton<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3816029|title=Geograph:: Little Gatton © Ian Capper|website=www.geograph.org.uk}}</ref> in Gatton Road, Reigate, Surrey, where he lived until 1946.

He died after succumbing to [[1957–1958 influenza pandemic|Asian flu]] in 1959.