Ridgwell Cullum(1867-1943)
- Writer
Ridgwell Cullum was the pseudonym of British author and adventurer
Sidney Groves Burghard. He was born in London, England on August 13,
1867 where, as a young man not yet eighteen, he chose leave England to
prospect for gold in the Transvaal region of South Africa. Later he
traveled to the Cape of Good Hope, where he became involved in the
conflict between British and Boar settlers. Soon though, news of a gold
strike lured Burghard to the Canadian Yukon. There he would suffer
severe depredations leading him to eventually trek south of the border
to the balmy climes of Montana. In time he would settle down and become
a prosperous Montana cattle rancher. In 1889 Burghard enlisted in the
US Army and may have been involved in putting down the Sioux Indian
uprising of 1890-91. Burghard finally found the gold he was searching
for after he published his first book "Devil's Keg" in 1903. After its
immediate success he decided to concentrate on writing full time and
began what would be a nearly forty year career as an author of popular
action and adventure stories that would rival those of
Zane Grey. Burghard may have been a
very private man, for despite his great success, there is scant mention
of him in newsprint outside of the occasional advertisement for one of
his books. He died on November 3, 1943, possibly at Maidenhead,
Berkshire, England, which, in 1921, he listed as his home on a
steamship passenger manifest while traveling under the name Ridgwell
Cullum. Edwardian Review, Registry of Authors, SS Olympic Passenger
Manifest, March 17, 1921,
