Grahame was orphaned when only a few years old and he and his sisters were raised by their grandmother. 

Another source says that his mother died when he was five. His alcoholic father sent him and his three siblings to live with relatives.   There was a trial year when he tried again to raise them himself, but it failed and the children never heard from him again.

Although an important financial figure and head of the Bank of England from 1898 to 1908, he is most famous as the author of The Wind in the Willows, first published in 1908.

References

Dictionary of National Biography
Prince, Alison. Kenneth Grahame: An Innocent in the Wild Wood. (London: Allison & Busby, 1994)
Kuznets, Lois R. Kenneth Grahame. (Boston: Twayne, 1987)

Indexes

European
Uk/great Britain
19th Century
20th Century
Finance
Literature
Pre-school Years
Orphaned (Both Parents)
Unmarried Mother, Single Parent (Mother or Father) Unable to Cope
Grandparents
Single Adopters or Fosterers
Temporary Care
Child in and out of Care
Parent(s) Died, Disappeared or Became Incapacitated
Birth Siblings Placed Together