His work was so successful that he gave up his position in the Admiralty to become a full-time author. His second book, 'The Young Cavalier' was published by C Arthur Pearson in 1909, and this was followed by 'The Winning of the Golden Spurs' in 1911 and four further novels in 1912. He was a particularly keen supporter of the Sea Scouts. As it happened, in the same year, Baden-Powell founded the Boy Scouts movement, which strongly influenced many of Westerman's books. Thus his first book for boys, 'A Lad of Grit, was published by Blackie and Son Limited in 1908. His writing career allegedly began while he was working in the Admiralty with a sixpence bet that he made with his wife stating that he could write a better story than the one he was reading to his son, who was at the time ill with chickenpox. He married Florence Wager, of Portsmouth, in 1900 and as they were very keen sailors they spent part of their honeymoon sailing in the Solent. After leaving school he took up a clerical appointment at Portsmouth Dockyard at the age of 20. Percy Francis Westerman was educated at Portsmouth Grammar School.
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