George Manville Fenn
Encyclopedia
George Manville Fenn was an English novelist, journalist, editor and educationalist.
, Lincolnshire
. He later became a printer, editor and publisher of short-lived periodicals, before attracting the attention of Charles Dickens
and others with a sketch for All the Year Round
in 1864. He contributed to Chambers's Journal
and Once a Week
. In 1866, he wrote a series of articles on working-class life for the newspaper The Star. These were collected and republished in four volumes. They were followed by a similar series in the Weekly Times.
Meanwhile he was married in 1855 to Susanna Leak, daughter of John Leak of Alford. They had two sons and six daughters.
Fenn's first story for boys, Hollowdell Grange, appeared in 1867. It was followed by countless other novels for juveniles and adults. Over 170 of them are thought to have been published in book form. Having become editor of Cassell's Magazine in 1870, he purchased Once a Week and edited it until it closed in 1879. He also wrote for the theatre.
Fenn and his family lived at Syon Lodge, Isleworth
, Middlesex
, where he built up a library of 25,000 volumes and took up telescope making. His last book was a biography of a great fellow writer of boys' stories, George Alfred Henty. He died at home on 26 August 1909.
Life and works
Fenn, the third child and eldest son of a butler, Charles Fenn, was largely self-educated, teaching himself French, German and Italian. After studying at Battersea Training College for Teachers (1851-4), he became the master of a national school at AlfordAlford
-Places:Australia*Alford, South AustraliaCanada*Alford, SaskatchewanEngland*Alford, Lincolnshire**Alford Manor House**Alford Windmill**Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Alford*Alford, Somerset*Alford CrosswaysScotland*Alford, Scotland...
, Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
. He later became a printer, editor and publisher of short-lived periodicals, before attracting the attention of Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
and others with a sketch for All the Year Round
All the Year Round
All the Year Round was a Victorian periodical, being a British weekly literary magazine founded and owned by Charles Dickens, published between 1859 and 1895 throughout the United Kingdom. Edited by Dickens, it was the direct successor to his previous publication Household Words, abandoned due to...
in 1864. He contributed to Chambers's Journal
Chambers's Edinburgh Journal
Chambers's Edinburgh Journal was a weekly 16-page magazine started by William Chambers in 1832. The first edition was dated 4 February 1832, and priced at one penny. Topics included history, religion, language, and science...
and Once a Week
Once A Week (magazine)
Once A Week was an English weekly illustrated literary magazine published by Bradbury and Evans. According to John Sutherland, "[h]istorically the magazine's main achievement was to provide an outlet for [an] innovative group of illustrators [in] the 1860s."The magazine was founded in consequence...
. In 1866, he wrote a series of articles on working-class life for the newspaper The Star. These were collected and republished in four volumes. They were followed by a similar series in the Weekly Times.
Meanwhile he was married in 1855 to Susanna Leak, daughter of John Leak of Alford. They had two sons and six daughters.
Fenn's first story for boys, Hollowdell Grange, appeared in 1867. It was followed by countless other novels for juveniles and adults. Over 170 of them are thought to have been published in book form. Having become editor of Cassell's Magazine in 1870, he purchased Once a Week and edited it until it closed in 1879. He also wrote for the theatre.
Fenn and his family lived at Syon Lodge, Isleworth
Isleworth
Isleworth is a small town of Saxon origin sited within the London Borough of Hounslow in west London, England. It lies immediately east of the town of Hounslow and west of the River Thames and its tributary the River Crane. Isleworth's original area of settlement, alongside the Thames, is known as...
, Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
, where he built up a library of 25,000 volumes and took up telescope making. His last book was a biography of a great fellow writer of boys' stories, George Alfred Henty. He died at home on 26 August 1909.
External links
- Eric Ford: A Forgotten Victorian Author And The Society He Knew. Critical Essay. From Contemporary Review. Sept. 1999.