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Photo in header: Charles Kingsley by John & Charles Watkins albumen print, arched top, 1860s NPG Ax7322 © National Portrait Gallery, London
12 Jun 1819 – 23 Jan 1875
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Charles was a priest, a university professor, social reformer, historian and novelist, best known for ‘The Water Babies’, ‘The Heroes’ and ‘Westward Ho!’ He is particularly associated with Christian Socialism. Charles came to Torquay in 1854 while his wife recovered from an illness which was put down to living in their damp rectory home at Eversley. Here Charles looked for specimens of marine life. Though he saw the natural world as the work of God, he was enthusiastic about Charles Darwin’s new theory of evolution (unusual for clergymen of the time).
“No wonder that such a spot as Torquay, with its delicious Italian climate, and endless variety of rich woodland, flowery lawn, fantastic rock-cavern, and broad bright tide-sand, sheltered from every wind of heaven except the soft south-east, should have become a favourite haunt, not only for invalids, but for naturalists. Indeed, it may well claim the honour of being the original home of marine zoology and botany in England…”
– Charles Kingsley’s ‘Glaucus, or, the Wonders of the Shore’ 1855
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Take a literary tour around the English Riviera and uncover the places and stories of the greatest writers of all time, who, for the past 200 years, have flocked to the English Riviera.
While many writers travelled to the English Riviera for inspiration, the best-selling novelist of all time is a home-grown talent.
Mary was a novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer and travel writer, most famous for her novel Frankenstein. She married poet Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1816. In 1817 the Shelleys holidayed in Torquay.
The Irish playwright is the only person to have been awarded both a Nobel Prize for Literature (1925) and an Oscar (1938) for ‘Pygmalion’. The 1897 play ‘You Never Can Tell’ was set in Torquay.
A poet and short story writer with a career spanning 4 decades. Elizabeth wrote about industrialisation, slavery, political leadership, religious controversy and the problems faced by women in society.
Take a moment at the War Memorial, a fitting place to mark Wilfred Owen, widely regarded as one of Britain’s greatest war poets.
Edward was a successful poet, playwright and novelist with an impressive political career, serving twice in Parliament and going on to the House of Lords as Baron Lytton.
Alfred was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria’s reign and remains one of the most popular British poets. Alfred excelled at writing short lyrics, as in ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’.
International bestselling author Lesley lives in Torquay. She was told as a child that she had too much imagination for her own good. Clearly this imagination has now been put to good use with 25 novels under her belt!
An Irish novelist, short story writer, poet, teacher, and literary critic, James is regarded as one of the most important 20th century authors.
Charles Robert Darwin was a naturalist and biologist known for his theory of evolution, the process of natural selection, and as the author of ‘On the Origin of Species’. He lived at No. 2 Meadfoot House in Hesketh Crescent.
This is the man The Guardian called ‘Britain’s answer to Stephen King’. An award-winning author, renowned for the tensest, scariest writing you’re ever likely to read.
Beatrix Potter was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist best known for ’The Tale of Peter Rabbit’.
Oscar Wilde was one of the most well-known personalities of his day, regarded for his biting wit, flamboyant dress and sparkling conversation.
Seán O’Casey was an Irish dramatist and memoirist, living through turbulent times including the 1913 Dublin Lock-out and Strike (starving with fellow workers), the 1916 Easter Rising, the Anglo-Irish War and the Civil War.
The Great Beast 666, Perabduro, Ankh-f-n-khonsu, the wickedest man in the world, Aleister Crowley was a noted – and controversial – occultist. He wrote widely, founded his own religious order, and designed a set of tarot cards that are still used today.
Conan Doyle was a British writer – originally a physician – best known for Sherlock Holmes, one of the most vivid and enduring characters in English fiction.
Robert was a Scottish novelist and travel writer, most noted for Treasure Island, Kidnapped, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and A Child’s Garden of Verses.
Still one of the most popular British authors and poets, Jungle Book author Rudyard Kipling and his wife lived at Rock House, Maidencombe from 1896-1898 on his return from America.
Thomas Stearns Eliot, the American-born poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, and literary and social critic Thomas Stearns Eliot, better known by his pen name TS Eliot, was “one of the twentieth century’s major poets”.
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