The tales of the man who burned Lord Byron's memoirs, a director of the East India Company and a controversial authoress were all revealed in a fascinating walk yesterday.

Starting at St Mary's Church with the grave of publishing legend John Murray, the Wimbledon Society hosted the gentle walk, stopping off at literary landmarks around Wimbledon Village.

John Murray's father, John Murray II, famously burned the memoirs of Lord Byron, whose personal life was deemed far too scandalous for publication.

John Murray III is buried alongside his wife Marion and Arthur Murray in the iconic St Mary's Church, a stone's throw from the All England Club and where he bought land in the Somerset Road area.

Surrey Comet:

The gravestone of John Murray in St Mary's Church

One of the knowledgable event hosts Monica Ellison said Murray was well-loved in Wimbledon in the 19th century, and his home was known as 'handbook hall' after the popularity of his red travel handbooks, like the modern day tourist guides.

Also buried in the churchyard is Robert Knox, who died in 1720 aged 70 years-old.

Author of An Historical Relation of the Island of Ceylon after being held captive there for 19 years, Knox influenced Daniel Defoe among others and worked for the East India Company.

The next stop was Dairy Walk in Church Road, to the home of the 'father of journalism' William Thomas Stead.

Surrey Comet:

WT Stead.

Known as WT Stead, he pioneered campaigning journalism and using interviews for stories.

His campaigns helped improve conditions in the navy and housing for Victorian London, but he was imprisoned in 1885 for three months after 'buying' a 13 year-old girl for £5 as part of a campaign to highlight child prostitution in the capital.

His home, Cambridge House, no longer exists.

Wimbledon Society guide Michael Norman-Smith said Stead was travelling to a peace conference in New York in April 1912 on board the Titanic.

He became one of its most famous English casualties, Mr Norman-Smith said.

Practically a neighbour in Oak Cottage, Burghley Road, was Ethel Mannin.

Born in Clapham in 1900, she bought the cottage using profits of a book called Confessions and Impressions which scandalised 1920s society with tales of her extra-marital affairs and travelling alone.

She produced more than 130 works including novels and was the editor, comissioner and writer at The Pelican magazine by the age of 19.

Moving into Wimbledon Village the 26-strong group soaked up tales of Grade II listed Jacobean Eagle House, currently being converted into flats.

The guide said it was built in 1613 by East India Company co-founder and director Robert Bell and in 1789 it became a school for gentlemen and noblemen.

Following a visit from Admiral Lord Nelson, it was known as the Nelson Academy and in 1860 it became the Eagle House School preparing boys for Harrow and Eton.

Next door to the impressive manor house is the Rose and Crown pub, a former haunt of poets Algernon Swinburne and Leigh Hunt, the latter of whom travelled with Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron before being dismissed as a scrounger.

He was fictionalised by Charles Dickens as Skimpole in Bleak House, according to Mr Norman-Smith.

The walk yesterday was held as part of a packed programme of events for the Wimbledon BookFest which runs until October 12.

Buy tickets at the website.