Dornford Yates

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Cecil William Mercer
Cecil William Mercer in 1909
Born	(1885-08-07)7 August 1885 Walmer, Kent
Died	5 March 1960(1960-03-05) (aged 74) Umtali, Southern Rhodesia
Pen name	Dornford Yates
Occupation	Author
Nationality	English
Alma mater	University College, Oxford
Military career
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service / branch	British Army
Years of service	1914–1919
Rank	Second Lieutenant
Unit	County of London Yeomanry
Battles / wars	World War 1

Cecil William Mercer (7 August 1885 – 5 March 1960), known by his pen name Dornford Yates, was an English writer and novelist whose novels and short stories, some humorous (the Berry books), some thrillers (the Chandos books), were best-sellers during the Interwar Period.

The pen name Dornford Yates, first in print in 1910, resulted from combining the maiden names of his grandmothers – the paternal Eliza Mary Dornford, and the maternal Harriet Yates.