Charles Gibbon (1843–1890) was a British novelist specialising in popular romances.''XIX Century Fiction'', Part I, A–K (Jarndyce, Bloomsbury, 2019).

Life

Gibbon was born in the

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, and moved with his parents to

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

at an early age. After receiving elementary education there, he became a clerk, and then before age 17 found a position on a local newspaper. During

Charles Kean Charles John Kean (18 January 181122 January 1868), was an English actor and theatre manager, best known for his revivals of Shakespearean plays. Life Kean was born at Waterford, Ireland, a son of actor Edmund Kean and actress Mary Kean ('' ...

's visit to Glasgow in 1860, Gibbon wrote an account of his acting, and Kean made his acquaintance. A year or so later Gibbon moved to London. Ill-health compelled Gibbon to spend his later years on the east coast of England, and he died at Great Yarmouth on 15 August 1890. He was married and left a family.

Works

A three-volume novel ''Dangerous Connexions'' was published by Gibbon in 1864, which had a second edition in 1875. ''The Dead Heart'' followed in 1865, and Gibbon went on to publish some thirty novels, ''Robin Gray'' (1869; other editions 1872 and 1877) and ''For Lack of Gold'' (1871; other editions 1873 and 1877). Gibbon's Scottish novels have been compared with those of William Black. Ten novels featured "Detective Dier", a character based on Edmund Reid, who was a friend of Gibbon's. Gibbon's book ''The Braes of Yarrow'' (1881) is a historical novel about Scotland after the

Battle of Flodden The Battle of Flodden, Flodden Field, or occasionally Branxton, (Brainston Moor) was a battle fought on 9 September 1513 during the War of the League of Cambrai between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, resulting in an English ...

.Nield, Jonathan (1925), ''A Guide to the Best Historical Novels and Tales''. G. P. Putnam's Sons, p. 67. ''By Mead and Stream'' (1884) is a rural romance. Gibbon also edited ''The Casquet of Literature'' (6 vols. 1873–4), and wrote a ''Life'' (2 vols. 1878) of

George Combe George Combe (21 October 1788 – 14 August 1858) was a trained Scottish lawyer and a spokesman of the phrenological movement for over 20 years. He founded the Edinburgh Phrenological Society in 1820 and wrote a noted study, ''The Constitution o ...

, in whose theories he was interested.

Notes

Attribution: 1843 births 1890 deaths Manx writers Writers from Glasgow British male novelists 19th-century British novelists 19th-century British male writers British historical novelists Writers of historical fiction set in the early modern period {{UK-writer-stub