Edward Frederic Benson was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist and short story writer, known professionally as E.F. Benson. His friends called him Fred.

One of E.F. Benson principal novel is Miss Mapp from his Mapp and Lucia series, which serialized by commercial television in the 1980s under the series title "Mapp and Lucia." The principal setting of which is a town called Tilling, which is recognizably based on Rye, East Sussex, where Benson lived for many years and served as Mayor. He also lived at 25 Brompton Square, London, where much of the action of Lucia in London takes place.