Summary from Wikipedia

Jerome was born at Belsize House, 1 Caldmore Road,[1] in Caldmore, Walsall, England. He was the fourth child of Marguerite Jones and Jerome Clapp (who later renamed himself Jerome Clapp Jerome),[2] an ironmonger and lay preacher who dabbled in architecture.[3] He had two sisters, Paulina and Blandina, and one brother, Milton, who died at an early age. Jerome was registered as Jerome Clapp Jerome,[4] like his father's amended name, and the Klapka appears to be a later variation (after the exiled Hungarian general György Klapka). The family fell into poverty owin ...