William Henry Giles Kingston

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William Henry Giles Kingston

William Henry Giles Kingston (1814 - 1880), writer of tales for boys, was born in London, but spent much of his youth in Oporto, where his father was a merchant.

His first book, The Circassian Chief, appeared in 1844. His first book for boys, Peter the Whaler, was published in 1851, and had such success that he retired from business and devoted himself entirely to the production of this kind of literature, in which his popularity was deservedly great; and during 30 years he wrote upwards of 130 tales, including

The Three Midshipmen (1862),
The Three Lieutenants (1874),
The Three Commanders (1875),
The Three Admirals (1877),
Digby Heathcote, etc.

He also conducted various papers, including The Colonist, and Colonial Magazine and East India Review. He was also interested in emigration, volunteering, and various philanthropic schemes. For services in negotiating a commercial treaty with Portugal he received a Portuguese knighthood, and for his literary labours a Government pension.

[edit] Biography

KINGSTON, WILLIAM HENRY GILES (1814-1880), novelist, born in Harley Street, London, 28 Feb. 1814, was eldest son of Lucy Henry Kingston, and grandson by the mother's side of Sir Giles Rooke, Knight Justice of the Court of Common Pleas. His father was in the wine^[1] business in Oporto, and there for many years the son lived, making frequent voyages to England, and contracting a lifelong affection for the sea. He entered his father's business, but soon indulged his natural bent for writing. His newspaper articles on Portugal were translated into Portuguese, and assisted the conclusion of the commercial treaty with Portugal in 1842, when he received from Donna Mariada Gloria an order of Portuguese knighthood and a pension.

His first book was 'The Circassian Chief,' a story published in 1844, and while still living in Oporto, he wrote ' The Prime Minister,' an historical novel, and Lusitanian Sketches,' descriptions of travels in Portugal. Settling in England, he interested himself in the emigration movement, edited in 1844 'The Colonist ' and 'The Colonial Magazine and East India Review,' was honorary secretary of a colonisation society, wrote in 1848 ' Some Suggestions for a System of General Emigration,' lectured on colonisation in 1849, published a manual for colonists, 'How to Emigrate,' in 1850, and visited the western highlands on behalf of the emigration commissioners. He was afterwards a zealous volunteer and worked actively for the improvement of the condition of seamen. But from 1850 his chief occupation was writing books for boys, or editing boys' annuals and weekly periodicals. The ' Union Jack,' a paper for boys, he started only a few months before his death. The best known of his stories, which numbered more than a hundred, are: I Peter the Whaler,' 1851; 'Blue Jackets,' 1854; 'Digby Heathcote,' 1860 ; ' The Cruise of the Frolic,' 1860: ° Tlie Fireships,' 1862; 'Foxholme Hall,' 1867 ;'Ben Burton,' 1872 ; ' The Three Midshipmen,' 1873 ; 'The Three Lieutenants,' 1876 ; ' The Three Commanders,' 1876; and 'The Three Admirals,' 1878; ` 'Kidnapping in the Pacific,' 1879; and 'Hendriks the Hunter,' 1884. He travelled widely on the ordinary routes of travel, and described his experience for the young in' Western Wanderings,' a Canadian tour, 1866; ' My Travels in Many Lands' (France, Italy, and Portugal), 1862 ; ' The Western World,' 1874 ; and ' A Yacht Voyage round England,' 1879. His popular records of adventure and of discovery included : ' Adventures in the Far West,' 1881; in Africa, 1883; in India, 188 ; in Australia, 1886; a 'Life of Captain Cook,' 1871; ° Great African Travellers, 1874; a ` Popular History of the Navy,' 1876 ; 'Notable Voyages from Columbus to Parry,' 1880, subsequently brought down to 1885 ; ' Livingstone's Travels,' 1886; ' Mungo Park's Travels,' 1886.

He translated several of Jules Verne's stories from the French, (but see below on the actual translator) and wrote many historical tales dealing with almost all periods and countries, from 'Eldol the Druid', 1874, and 'Jovinian, a tale of Early Papal Rome,' 1877, downwards, and undertook some popular historical compilations like 'Half-Hours with the Kings and Queens of England,' 1876.

His writings occupy nine pages and a half of the British Museum Catalogue. They were very popular; his tales were quite innocuous, but most of them proved ephemeral. Feeling his health failing, on 2 Aug. 1880 he wrote a farewell letter in touching terms to the boys for whom he had written so much and so long, and died three days later at Stormont Lodge, Willesden, near London.

[Boy's Own Paper, 11 Sept. 1880, which contains his portrait; preface to his novel James Braithwaite, 1882 ; Athenaeum, 14 Aug. 1880 ; Times, 10 Aug. 1880.] J. A. H. ^[2]

Family Life

On August 4th, 1853, Kingston married Agnes Kinloch, daughter of Captain Charles Kinloch who had served in the Peninsular War. The honeymoon was spent in Canada, where Kingston acquired the background for many of his later novels. Agnes Kinloch was privately educated, as was the custom of the time, she sang well, was an accomplished musician, studied art and languages in Europe, and spoke both French and German fluently, a skill which was to be of benefit during her husband's later financial troubles. Although she bore her husband eight children, these all died early and this branch of the family is now extinct.^[3]

Kingston's brother, George Kingston (1816-1886), was a Canadian professor, meteorologist, author, and public servant. For successfully promoting and organizing one of Canada's first national scientific services, George Kingston has been called the father of Canadian Meteorology.

Financial Troubles; the Translations of Jules Verne

Beginning in 1860 Kingston suffered a number of financial reverses resulting from his publishing activities, and by 1868 was very nearly bankrupt. In fact he was forced to accept a grant of £50 from the Royal Literary Fund and a few months later £100 from the Queen's Civil List. The financial troubles continued and resulted in Kingston living as a recluse during the last ten years of his life.

Beginning in the 1870's Kingston entered into a contract with the publishers Sampson Low and Marston to translate some works of the French author Jules Verne. These are the works for which Kingston is most remembered today, but although they were all published under his name, the translations were actually done by his wife, Agnes Kinloch Kingston.^[4] Although this fact was generally known in literary circles, and actually mentioned in Mrs. Kingston's obituary in 1913, it was apparently forgotten until it was revived in the 20th Century edition of the Dictionary of National Biography in 2004. ^[5] The Verne books which Mrs. Kingston translated are:

I. The Mysterious Island,, Sampson Low et. al., 3 volumes: 1875, reprinted by Scribner, Armstrong, & Co., New York, 1 volume: 1876

II. Michael Strogoff, Sampson Low et al.: 1876, reprinted by Scribner, Armstrong, & Co., "revised by Julius Chambers": 1877

III. The Child of the Cavern; or Strange Doings Underground, Sampson Low et al.: 1877

IV. The Begum's Fortune; with an account of the Mutineers of the Bounty, Sampson Low et al.: 1879, reprinted by J. B. Lippincott: 1879

[edit] References

^ See last reference
^ Dictionary of National Biography, Vol 22 (Supplement), Oxford University Press, London: 1922
^ The Life, Work, and Influence of W. H. G. Kingston, M. R. Kingsford, Ryerson Press, Toronto: 1947.
^ In 1943 M. R. Kingsford inherited the diaries of Kingston and his wife Agnes from the last living family descendant, material which he used for his B.Litt thesis at Oxford and which was later published in this biography. The diaries of Mrs. Kingston provided conclusive proof that she was the translator of the Verne works, the Swiss Family Robinson, and in fact of all the other translations attributed to W. H. G. Kingston. The Life, Work, and Influence of W. H. G. Kingston, M. R. Kingsford, Ryerson Press, Toronto: 1947.
^ Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, London: 2004-2007

This article incorporates public domain text from: Cousin, John William (1910). A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London, J.M. Dent & sons; New York, E.P. Dutton.