Arthur Christopher Benson (24 April 1862 – 17 June 1925) was a British essayist, poet and author, and the 28th Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge. Benson was one of six children of Edward White Benson, a late nineteenth-century Archbishop of Canterbury. An uncle of the family was philosopher Henry Sidgwick. The Benson family was exceptionally literate and accomplished, but their history was somewhat tragic. A son and daughter died young, and another daughter, as well as Arthur himself, suffered badly from a mental condition that was probably manic-depressive psychosis, which they had inherited from their father. None of the children ever married. He was gay, though his diaries suggest he had few or no sexual relationships.[1] Despite his illness, Arthur was a distinguished academic and a most prolific author. He was educated at Eton and King's College, Cambridge.[2] From 1885 to 1903 he taught at Eton, returning to Cambridge to lecture in English literature for Magdalene College. From 1915 to 1925 he was Master of Magdalene. From 1906 he was a governor of Gresham's School.[3] His poems and volumes of essays, such as From a College Window, were famous in his day, and he left one of the longest diaries ever written, some four million words. Today he is best remembered as the author of the words to one of Britain's best-loved patriotic songs, Land of Hope and Glory, and as a brother to novelist E. F. Benson. He is buried at the Parish of the Ascension Burial Ground in Cambridge.