Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton, PC was an English author and politician who was born on May 25, 1803 and died on January 18, 1873. Between 1831 and 1841, he was a Whig member of Parliament. From 1851 to 1866, he was a Conservative member. From June 1858 to June 1859, he was Secretary of State for the Colonies. During that time, he chose Richard Clement Moody to be the first governor of British Columbia. After King Otto gave up his throne in 1862, he turned down the Crown of Greece. In 1866, he was made Baron Lytton of Knebworth. His writings were well known at the time he wrote them. "The pen is mightier than the sword," "dweller on the threshold," "the great unwashed," and the opening line "It was a dark and stormy night" were all quotes that he came up with. Since 1982, the sarcastic Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest has been held every year. Its goal is to find the "beginning sentence of the worst of all possible novels." On May 25, 1803, General William Earle Bulwer of Heydon Hall and Wood Dalling, Norfolk, and Elizabeth Barbara Lytton, daughter of Richard Warburton Lytton of Knebworth House, Hertfordshire, had a child. This child was Bulwer. His brothers were William Earle Lytton Bulwer (1799-1877) and Henry (1801-1872), who became Lord Dalling and Bulwer.