Robert Cedric Sherriff, son of Herbert Hankin and Constance Winder Sherriff, was born at Kingston-on-Thames, near London, where his father was an employee of the Sun Insurance Company. At seventeen, having been graduated from the Kingston Grammar School, Sherriff became an insurance clerk. When World War I broke out a few months later, he volunteered for service in the Ninth East Surrey Regiment. At eighteen he became a second lieutenant, saw active service, and was wounded at Ypres. He spent approximately six months in a hospital. By the time the war ended he had attained the rank of captain.

Returning to civilian life, Sherriff rejoined the Sun Insurance Company and served as a claims adjuster for ten years. Meanwhile he became a member of his hometown rowing club, and as a means of earning money to support the organization, he began to write amateur plays. Annually for six...