Rudyard Kipling (from Wikimedia Commons)
Born in India, in 1865, John Rudyard Kipling was one of the most prolific, and most famous, authors of his time. During his long and varied career (which began in the 1880's and lasted until his his death in 1936), Kipling published two science fiction stories: "With the Night Mail" (1909), and "As Easy as A.B.C. " (1917). These tales, set 65 years apart, in the years 2000 and 2065, respectivly, take place in a world dominated by dirigibles, which we would now certainly classify as steampunk.
In addition to these proto-steampunk tales, Kipling often wrote eloquently about Victorian/Edwardian era technology, including "The Ship Who Found Herself", and and ".007" (in which the characters are steam locomotives).