William Howitt (1792–1879), author, arrived in Victoria in 1852 having worked as a farmer, druggist, alderman and writer in England. Howitt spent two years on the diggings, his experiences there later becoming the basis for a number of published works including Land, labour and gold; or, two years in Victoria (1855). He returned to England in 1854, eventually settling in Rome, where he died in March 1879.