Born and bred in Wolverhampton, Anthony Perry was educated at Wolverhampton Grammar School and works for the Property Services Division of Wolverhampton Borough Council.

It was the interest in the Victorian period and a recollection that one of the books inherited from his grandfather was by a Wolverhampton authoress which encouraged the research to gather the information compiled in "The Fowler Legacy". The research continued and an interest began in discovering Midland settings in Ellen Thorneycroft Fowler's novels, some obvious, some not. These settings are the basis of 'Ellen's Forgotten Mercia", which includes archive photographs of some buildings lost since the early twentieth century. A few interior photographs have been included. Some settings were elusive and these have been included for readers to discover themselves.