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British Literature in Credo: Victorian Era

About the Victorian Era

Genres

Famous People

  • Brontë

    Family of English novelists, including Charlotte Brontë, 1816–55, English novelist, Emily Jane Brontë, 1818–48, English novelist and poet, and Anne Brontë, 1820–49, English novelist.

  • Anne Brontë (1820 - 1849)

    Anne Brontë was the youngest of the famous trio of literary sisters. Anne's literary endeavours, like those of Emily Brontë, went unacknowledged in her brief lifetime.

  • Charlotte Brontë (1816 - 1855)

    English novelist and member of the Brontë family. Her most famous novels are Jane Eyre (1847) and Villette (1853).

  • Samuel Butler (1835 - 1902)

    British writer best known for The Way of All Flesh (1903), a semiautobiographical novel satirizing family life in mid-Victorian England.

  • Lewis Carroll (1832 - 1898)

    English writer; an Oxford mathematics don who wrote Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1872) and the nonsense poem The Hunting of the Snark (1876).

  • Wilkie Collins (1824-1889)

    From Continuum Encyclopedia of British Literature

    Say “Wilkie Collins” to a late Victorian reader of fiction and he or she (Collins appealed to both) would have fired back two words: “sensation” and “bohemian.”

  • Joseph Conrad (1857 - 1924)

    Pen-name of Teodor Józef Konrad Nałȩcz Korzeniowski, a British novelist, born in Ukraine.

  • Charles Dickens (1812 - 1870)

    English author, born in Portsmouth, one of the world's most popular, prolific, and skilled novelists.

  • Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)

    British Conservative politician and novelist. Authored the novel trilogy Coningsby, Sybil, and Tancred (1847).

  • Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859 - 1930)

    Writer, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, born in Edinburgh, EC Scotland, UK.

  • Elizabeth Gaskell (1810 - 1865)

    British writer noted for her Life of Charlotte Brontë (1857) and her novels depicting the oppression of workers in 19th-century England.

  • Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928)

    English novelist and poet, born near Dorchester, one of the great English writers of the 19th century.

  • Charles Kingsley (1819 - 1875)

    English writer. He was one of the first clerics to support Charles Darwin, whose ideas he partly incorporated into The Water Babies (1863). His popular historical novels include Hereward the Wake (1866).

  • George Meredith (1828 - 1909)

    English novelist and poet. His works, notable for their social satire and analysis of character, include the novels Beauchamp's Career (1876) and The Egoist (1879) and the long tragic poem Modern Love (1862).

  • Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894)

    British writer of essays, poetry, and novels, including Treasure Island (1883), The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886), and Kidnapped (1886).

  • William Makepeace Thackeray (1811 - 1863)

    English novelist, born in India; satirised social pretensions in such novels as Vanity Fair (1848).

  • Anthony Trollope (1815 - 1882)

    English novelist; major novels include Barchester Towers (1857) and The Way We Live Now (1875).



  • Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881)

    British historian and essayist whose works, such as The French Revolution (1837), are characterized by his trenchant social and political criticism and his complex literary style.

  • Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882)

    British naturalist who revolutionized the study of biology with his theory of evolution based on natural selection. His most famous works include Origin of Species (1859) and The Descent of Man (1871).

  • Richard Jefferies (1848 - 1887)

    English naturalist and writer. His books on the countryside include Gamekeeper at Home (1878), The Life of the Fields (1884), and his best-known collection of essays, The Open Air (1885).

  • Henry Edward Manning (1808 - 1892)

    English churchman, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.

  • John Stuart Mill (1806 - 1873)

    British philosopher and economist known especially for his interpretations of empiricism and utilitarianism. His many works include A System of Logic (1843), Principles of Political Economy (1848), and The Subjection of Women (1869).

  • William Morris (1834 - 1896)

    English poet, designer, craftsman, and socialist writer. He founded the Kelmscott Press (1890).

  • John Henry Newman (1801 - 1890)

    British prelate and theologian. A founder of the Oxford movement, he converted to Roman Catholicism (1845) and was made a cardinal (1879).

  • John Ruskin (1819 - 1900)

    English art critic and social reformer. He was a champion of the Gothic Revival and the Pre-Raphaelites and saw a close connection between art and morality.

  • Sir Leslie Stephen (1832-1904)

    English philosopher, critic, & biographer.



Famous People

Brontë

Family of English novelists, including Charlotte Brontë, 1816–55, English novelist, Emily Jane Brontë, 1818–48, English novelist and poet, and Anne Brontë, 1820–49, English novelist.

Anne Brontë (1820 - 1849)

Anne Brontë was the youngest of the famous trio of literary sisters. Anne's literary endeavours, like those of Emily Brontë, went unacknowledged in her brief lifetime.

Charlotte Brontë (1816 - 1855)

English novelist and member of the Brontë family. Her most famous novels are Jane Eyre (1847) and Villette (1853).

Samuel Butler (1835 - 1902)

British writer best known for The Way of All Flesh (1903), a semiautobiographical novel satirizing family life in mid-Victorian England.

Lewis Carroll (1832 - 1898)

English writer; an Oxford mathematics don who wrote Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1872) and the nonsense poem The Hunting of the Snark (1876).

Wilkie Collins (1824-1889)

From Continuum Encyclopedia of British Literature
Say “Wilkie Collins” to a late Victorian reader of fiction and he or she (Collins appealed to both) would have fired back two words: “sensation” and “bohemian.”

Joseph Conrad (1857 - 1924)

Pen-name of Teodor Józef Konrad Nałȩcz Korzeniowski, a British novelist, born in Ukraine.

Charles Dickens (1812 - 1870)

English author, born in Portsmouth, one of the world's most popular, prolific, and skilled novelists.

Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)

British Conservative politician and novelist. Authored the novel trilogy Coningsby, Sybil, and Tancred (1847).

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859 - 1930)

Writer, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, born in Edinburgh, EC Scotland, UK.

Elizabeth Gaskell (1810 - 1865)

British writer noted for her Life of Charlotte Brontë (1857) and her novels depicting the oppression of workers in 19th-century England.

Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928)

English novelist and poet, born near Dorchester, one of the great English writers of the 19th century.

Charles Kingsley (1819 - 1875)

English writer. He was one of the first clerics to support Charles Darwin, whose ideas he partly incorporated into The Water Babies (1863). His popular historical novels include Hereward the Wake (1866).

George Meredith (1828 - 1909)

English novelist and poet. His works, notable for their social satire and analysis of character, include the novels Beauchamp's Career (1876) and The Egoist (1879) and the long tragic poem Modern Love (1862).

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894)

British writer of essays, poetry, and novels, including Treasure Island (1883), The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886), and Kidnapped (1886).

William Makepeace Thackeray (1811 - 1863)

English novelist, born in India; satirised social pretensions in such novels as Vanity Fair (1848).

Anthony Trollope (1815 - 1882)

English novelist; major novels include Barchester Towers (1857) and The Way We Live Now (1875).

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881)

British historian and essayist whose works, such as The French Revolution (1837), are characterized by his trenchant social and political criticism and his complex literary style.

Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882)

British naturalist who revolutionized the study of biology with his theory of evolution based on natural selection. His most famous works include Origin of Species (1859) and The Descent of Man (1871).

Richard Jefferies (1848 - 1887)

English naturalist and writer. His books on the countryside include Gamekeeper at Home (1878), The Life of the Fields (1884), and his best-known collection of essays, The Open Air (1885).

Henry Edward Manning (1808 - 1892)

English churchman, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.

John Stuart Mill (1806 - 1873)

British philosopher and economist known especially for his interpretations of empiricism and utilitarianism. His many works include A System of Logic (1843), Principles of Political Economy (1848), and The Subjection of Women (1869).

William Morris (1834 - 1896)

English poet, designer, craftsman, and socialist writer. He founded the Kelmscott Press (1890).

John Henry Newman (1801 - 1890)

British prelate and theologian. A founder of the Oxford movement, he converted to Roman Catholicism (1845) and was made a cardinal (1879).

John Ruskin (1819 - 1900)

English art critic and social reformer. He was a champion of the Gothic Revival and the Pre-Raphaelites and saw a close connection between art and morality.

Sir Leslie Stephen (1832-1904)

English philosopher, critic, & biographer.

Matthew Arnold (1822 - 1888)

English poet and critic, son of the educator Dr. Thomas Arnold.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861)

An experimental writer, she wrote ballads, political odes, allegories, sonnets, poetic dramas and an epic.

Robert Browning (1812 - 1889)

British poet best known for dramatic monologues such as “My Last Duchess,” “Fra Lippo Lippi,” and “The Bishop Orders His Tomb.”

George Eliot (1819 - 1880)

Pseudonym of Mary Ann (or Marian) Evans English novelist.

Sir W. S. Gilbert (1836 - 1911)

British playwright and lyricist known for a series of comic operas, including H.M.S. Pinafore (1878) and The Pirates of Penzance (1879), written with composer Sir Arthur Sullivan.

Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844 - 1889)

British poet known for a number of works published posthumously, including “The Wreck of the Deutschland” and “The Windhover.”

Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828 - 1882)

English poet and painter; son of Gabriele Rossetti and brother of Christina Rossetti.

Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837 - 1909)

British poet and critic who wrote musical, often erotic verse in which he attacked the conventions of Victorian morality.

Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809 - 1892

English poet; poet laureate (1850-92). His poems include The Lady of Shalott (1832), Morte d'Arthur (1842), the collection In Memoriam (1850), Maud (1855), and Idylls of the King (1859).