Robert Folkestone Williams
Robert Folkestone Williams (1809 – 1870) was an English novelist, poet, journalist, historian, biographer, magazine editor, and professor.[1]
Life
[edit]He was born in London in 1809, the son of Edward Williams,[2] a surgeon. Robert originally studied surgery under George James Guthrie, but decided on a literary career.[3]
He wrote domestic novels and historical novels on subjects such as the life of William Shakespeare, the English Civil War, and the early eighteenth century. His novel Sir Roger de Coverley (1846), was published under the pseudonym Frank Ranelagh.[4]
Williams's fictional works were widely read, especially his Shakespeare novels. He was also well known in literary circles and was a close friend of Frederick Marryat, whose unfinished novel The Little Savage Williams completed, and Theodore Hook, whose unfinished novel Fathers and Sons Williams also completed for publication.[5]
He also served as Professor of Ancient and Modern History at Cavalry College, Richmond, and edited The New Monthly Magazine.[6]
In 1839 he married Rosa Lucy du Ponte, the widow of William Francis Player, and they had three children. Williams died in 1870.[7]
Works
[edit]Novels
[edit]- Mephistopheles in England: or, The Confessions of a Prime Minister (1835)
- Eureka: A Prophecy of the Future (1837)
- Shakspeare and his Friends: or, "The Golden Age" of Merry England (1838)
- The Youth of Shakspeare (1839)
- The Secret Passion (1844)
- Maids of Honour: A Tale of the Court of George I (1845)
- Sir Roger de Coverley: A Tale of the Court of Charles the Second (1846)
- Strawberry Hill: An Historical Novel (1847)
- The Luttrells: or, The Two Marriages (1850)
- Jack Scudamore's Daughter: A Domestic Story (1865)
Poetry
[edit]- Rhymes and Rhapsodies (1833)
Biography
[edit]- Memoirs of Sophia Dorothea, Consort of George I (1845)
- The Court and Times of James the First (1848)
- Lives of the English Cardinals, Including Historical Notices of the Papal Court (1868)
Miscellaneous
[edit]- An Historical Sketch of the Art of Sculpture in Wood, from the Earliest Period to the Present Time (1835)
References
[edit]Citations
[edit]- Bassett, Troy J. (31 October 2024). "Robert Folkestone Williams". victorianresearch.org. Retrieved 29 November 2024.
- Jeaffreson, John Cordy (1858). Novels and Novelists, from Elizabeth to Victoria, Vol 2. Hurst and Blackett. p. 403-404.
- 1809 births
- 1870 deaths
- Novelists from London
- Poets from London
- Journalists from London
- 19th-century English male writers
- 19th-century English novelists
- English male novelists
- 19th-century English poets
- English male poets
- 19th-century English journalists
- English male journalists
- 19th-century English historians
- 19th-century English educators
- 19th-century English biographers
- Writers of historical fiction set in the early modern period
- Victorian novelists
- Victorian poets
- 19th-century pseudonymous writers
- Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society
- English art historians