Elliott O'Donnell was an English author who lived from February 27, 1872, to May 8, 1965. He was best known for writing books about ghosts. When he was five years old, he said he saw a ghost that looked like an elemental figure with spots on it. He also said that a strange ghost had strangled him in Dublin, though the wounds did not seem to have been lasting. He was born in England in Clifton, which is near Bristol. His parents were Reverend Henry O'Donnell (1827-1873), who was Irish, and Elizabeth Mousley (née Harrison), who was English. He had three older brothers named Henry O'Donnell, Helena O'Donnell, and Petronella O'Donnell. The Rev. Henry O'Donnell went to Abyssinia after the birth of his fourth child while he waited to be moved to a new parish. He was said to have been robbed, killed, and beaten by a group of people. Elliott O'Donnell said that he was related to Irish chieftains from the past, like Niall of the Nine Hostages and Red Hugh, who fought the English in the 1600s. O'Donnell went to school at Queen's Service Academy in Dublin, Ireland, and then at Clifton College in Bristol, England.