Eric Muspratt was born in England and, according to his own writings, travelled extensively throughout his early years, firstly with his parents and siblings in a home-made gypsy-style caravan to Jersey, then with his father on some hobo-esque adventures through America, Canada and Australia. His many autobiographical writings (Grant mentions ten, though only eight have been recovered) describe a life of travel and adventure. His final autobiography Fire of Youth, published the year before his death, is described in the journal of Arthur Hickman as having 'inaccuracies demanding correction'. Muspratt died in his fiftieth year from an overdose of a sleeping draught, and though suicide was suspected, it was never established.
(Source: Bruce Grant Arthur and Eric: An Anglo-Australian Story from the Journal of Arthur Hickman, 1977.)