Walter Delaplaine Scull was born in Bath, Somerset on 9th February 1863 and educated at Rugby and Lincoln College, Oxford. He moved to Hampstead, London and became a painter and writer of note between 1885 and 1903. On 2nd July 1896, he purchased land in Crowborough and built his home - The Pines - where he lived for 18 years until his death in 1915. During his Crowborough years he continued writing and published in 1901 "The Life & Work of B.W.Leader, RA" under his pen name of Lewis Lusk. He wrote several books on Sussex matters under his own name - "Bolebroke House", "Old Buckhurst", and "Ashdown Forest in 1632". His novels "Sussex Oak" and "Sussex Iron" were published in 1912 and 1913 under his pen name of Lewis Lusk. He was Vice President of the Crowborough & Jarvis Brook Rifle Club, and was its second President for three years. He was also one of the first recruits to the Crowborough Volunteer Training Corps, of whom Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a member.