Samuel Pasfield Oliver (1838-1907) was born in Ongar, Essex. Educated at Eton College and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. With a commission in the Royal Artillery, he served in Canton, and travelled to Peking [Beijing] and Japan, and Mauritius, also travelling at this time to Madagascar. He was later involved in Captain Pym's expedition to Central America in 1867 and studied archaeological sites in Asia Minor, Greece, and Sardinia. He briefly served as special artist and correspondent of the Illustrated London News in Cyprus and Syria but her returned to England following ill-health to pursue a writing career. His published works included 'Madagascar and the Malagasy' (1866), 'Nuragghi Sardi, and other Non-Historic Stone Structures of the Mediterranean' (1875) and 'The Second Afghan War, 1878–80' (1908). He died at his home in Worthing in July 1907. Source: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.