Philip A. Bruce (1856-1933) was a historian, essayist, and poet of Scotch descent. The son of Charles and Sarah Seddon Bruce, Philip spent his youth at Staunton Hall Plantation in Charlotte County, Virginia. Deeply influenced by the social and cultural life of the plantation, Bruce received a good education from various tutors. Later, he attended Norwood Academy; and then the University of Virginia from 1873 to 1875. He obtained a Bachelor of Law degree from Harvard in 1879.

Bruce's career was varied and colorful. His first position as editorial writer for The Richmond Times brought him recognition as a promising writer. As corresponding secretary of the Virginia Historical Society, Bruce played a major role editing its quarterly publication. Bruce never taught, but devoted his full creative energies to writing. In 1896 his major work The Economic History of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century appeared. Bruce spent time in England to research colonial Virginia records. He published a social and institutional history of Virginia and a History of the University of Virginia (5 vols.) in 1921. For additional biographical information, see Darrett B. Rutman, "Philip Alexander Bruce: A Divided Mind of the South" Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, LXVIII (Oct. 1960), pp. 387-408.