JK Rowling’s Father Ran Illegal Marijuana Operation From Childhood Home in 1990s, Book Says

A forthcoming biography states that JK Rowling’s estranged father secretly ran a large-scale marijuana-growing operation from the family’s former home in southwest England during the 1990s. The allegations appear in “A Pen to Change the World,” a book by Solomon Schmidt scheduled for release on June 23, 2026.

com, the claims come from Peter Rowling’s nephew, Ben Rowling. Ben Rowling told the author that his uncle said he had been one of the largest growers of marijuana in South West England and Wales in the years before 1997. The book reports the operation began after the death of JK Rowling’s mother from multiple sclerosis in 1990 and ran from roughly 1991 to 1995.

The family home, Church Cottage in Gloucestershire, reportedly contained a hidden cellar accessed through a trapdoor under a carpet or rug. The space was equipped with lighting, ventilation and harvesting systems, according to the account. "Pete always had a carpet or rug over the trapdoor entrance, and so you would never know the space even existed unless you lived there or were family," Ben Rowling is quoted as saying in the book.

The book states that another man identified only as “Derek” handled cultivation, packaging and sales. It adds that the cellar’s thick brick-and-concrete floor and ventilation system helped conceal the activity. At the time, marijuana cultivation in the UK carried the risk of a substantial prison sentence.

The operation reportedly ended when the house was sold in 1995. Manuals detailing the grow setup were later found in the attic by an estate agent, but no further action resulted, according to the book. There is no suggestion that JK Rowling was aware of the alleged activities.