Rev. Philip Brocklesby Davis was born to missionary parents in Allahabad, Bengal, India [now known as Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh], although he spent most of his childhood and adolescence in England. He studied at Dean Close Memorial School in Cheltenham and then theology at Corpus Christi from 1893 to 1896. Philip went on to Ridley Hall to train as a priest and then taught in Ripon before being ordained and becoming a curate in Sydenham, South London. Here Philip met his wife Ellen Clara Mariott and they were married in 1902, before travelling to India as CMS missionaries.

Philip's two daughters were born in Allahabad (Ellen b.1903, Margaret b. 1905 although Margaret died from whooping cough in January 1907). The family remained in India until Philip was invalided back in November 1909 after contracting enteric fever. For the next two years Philip continued to work for the CMS, travelling extensively across England. Philip became a curate at St. Stephens Lansdown Bath, where his third daughter, Kathleen, was born. He was later appointed as the vicar in Cannington, Somerset where his grandfather, Robert Davis had been installed almost 100 years previously.

Philip's spinster aunt supported him financially both during his time at Cambridge and in India, and he wrote her weekly letters which, along with his diaries, form the basis of this collection.