Charles Kingsley (12 June 1819 – 23 January 1875) was a broad church

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

, a university professor, social reformer, historian, novelist and poet. He is particularly associated with

Christian socialism Christian socialism is a religious and political philosophy that blends Christianity and socialism, endorsing left-wing politics and socialist economics on the basis of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Many Christian socialists believe capi ...

, the working men's college, and forming labour cooperatives, which failed, but encouraged later working reforms. He was a friend and correspondent of

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

Life and character

Charles Kingsley Vanity Fair 30 March 1872

Kingsley was born in

Holne Holne is a village and civil parish on the southeastern slopes of Dartmoor in Devon, England. A community has existed here since at least the 11th century, and today a population of around 250 people is served by a church and a public house, the ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, the elder son of the Reverend Charles Kingsley and his wife, Mary Lucas Kingsley. His brother

Henry Kingsley Henry Kingsley (2 January 1830 – 24 May 1876) was an English novelist, brother of the better-known Charles Kingsley. He was an early exponent of muscular Christianity in an 1859 work, ''The Recollections of Geoffry Hamlyn''. Life Kingsley wa ...

(1830–1876) and sister Charlotte Chanter (1828–1882) also became writers. He was the father of the novelist

Lucas Malet Lucas Malet was the pseudonym of Mary St Leger Kingsley (4 June 1852 — 27 October 1931), a Victorian novelist. Of her novels, ''The Wages of Sin'' (1891) and ''The History of Sir Richard Calmady'' (1901) were especially popular. Malet scholar T ...

(Mary St. Leger Kingsley, 1852–1931) and the uncle of the traveller and scientist

Mary Kingsley Mary Henrietta Kingsley (13 October 1862 – 3 June 1900) was an English ethnographer, scientific writer, and explorer whose travels throughout West Africa and resulting work helped shape European perceptions of both African cultures and ...

(1862–1900). Charles Kingsley's childhood was spent in

Clovelly Clovelly () is a privately-owned harbour village in the Torridge district of Devon, England. The settlement and surrounding land belongs to John Rous who inherited it from his mother in 1983. He belongs to the Hamlyn family who have managed t ...

, Devon, where his father was Curate in 1826–1832 and Rector in 1832–1836, and at

Barnack Barnack is a village and civil parish, now in the Peterborough unitary authority of the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England and the historic county of Northamptonshire. Barnack is in the north-west of the unitary authority, south-east ...

, Northamptonshire. He was educated at

Bristol Grammar School Bristol Grammar School (BGS) is a 4–18 mixed, independent day school in Bristol, England. It was founded in 1532 by Royal Charter for the teaching of 'good manners and literature', endowed by wealthy Bristol merchants Robert and Nicholas Thorn ...

and

Helston Helston ( kw, Hellys) is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated at the northern end of the Lizard Peninsula approximately east of Penzance and south-west of Falmouth.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map she ...

Grammar School before studying at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

and the University of Cambridge. Charles entered

Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

, in 1838, and graduated in 1842. He chose to pursue priesthood in the Anglican Church. In 1844 he became

Rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

Eversley Eversley is a village and civil parish in the Hart district of Hampshire, England. The village is located around northeast of Basingstoke and around west of Yateley. The River Blackwater, and the border with Berkshire, form the northern bo ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

. In 1859 he was appointed chaplain to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

. In 1860, he became Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Cambridge, and in 1861 a private tutor to the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

. In 1869 Kingsley resigned his Cambridge professorship and in 1870–1873 served as a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

Chester Cathedral Chester Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral and the mother church of the Diocese of Chester. It is located in the city of Chester, Cheshire, England. The cathedral, formerly the abbey church of a Benedictine monastery dedicated to Saint ...

. While there, he founded the

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

Society for Natural Science, Literature and Art, which was prominent in the establishment of the

Grosvenor Museum Grosvenor Museum is a museum in Chester, Cheshire, in the United Kingdom. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building. Its full title is The Grosvenor Museum of Natural History and Archa ...

. In 1872 he agreed to become the 19th President of the

Birmingham and Midland Institute , mottoeng = Endless Learning , established = 1854 by Act of Parliament , city = Birmingham , province = West Midlands , country = United Kingdom , president = Sir David Cannadine , vice_president = Dr Serena Trowbridge, Sami ...

. In 1873 he was made a canon of

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

. Kingsley sat on the 1866 Edward Eyre Defence Committee along with

Thomas Carlyle Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher. A leading writer of the Victorian era, he exerted a profound influence on 19th-century art, literature and philosophy. Born in Ecclefechan, Dum ...

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and politi ...

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

, John Tyndall, and

Alfred Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...

, where he supported Jamaican Governor

Edward Eyre Edward John Eyre (5 August 181530 November 1901) was an English land explorer of the Australian continent, colonial administrator, and Governor of Jamaica. Early life Eyre was born in Whipsnade, Bedfordshire, shortly before his family moved to ...

's brutal suppression of the

Morant Bay Rebellion The Morant Bay Rebellion (11 October 1865) began with a protest march to the courthouse by hundreds of people led by preacher Paul Bogle in Morant Bay, Jamaica. Some were armed with sticks and stones. After seven men were shot and killed by th ...

against the

Jamaica Committee The Jamaica Committee was a group set up in Great Britain in 1865, which called for Edward Eyre, Governor of Jamaica, to be tried for his excesses in suppressing the Morant Bay rebellion of 1865. More radical members of the Committee wanted him ...

. One of his daughters, Mary St Leger Kingsley, became known as a novelist under the pseudonym

. Kingsley's biography, written by his widow in 1877, was entitled ''Charles Kingsley, his Letters and Memories of his Life''. Kingsley received letters from

Thomas Huxley Thomas Henry Huxley (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist and anthropologist specialising in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. The stor ...

in 1860 and in 1863 letters discussing Huxley's early ideas on

agnosticism Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...

Death

Charles Kingsley died of pneumonia on 23 January 1875 at Eversley, Hampshire, aged 55. He was buried there in St. Mary's Churchyard.

Influences and works

Kingsley's interest in history is shown in several of his writings, including ''The Heroes'' (1856), a children's book about

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

, and several historical novels, of which the best known are ''

Hypatia Hypatia, Koine pronunciation (born 350–370; died 415 AD) was a neoplatonist philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician, who lived in Alexandria, Egypt, then part of the Eastern Roman Empire. She was a prominent thinker in Alexandria wher ...

'' (1853), ''

Hereward the Wake Hereward the Wake (Traditional pronunciation /ˈhɛ.rɛ.ward/, modern pronunciation /ˈhɛ.rɪ.wəd/) (1035 – 1072) (also known as Hereward the Outlaw or Hereward the Exile) was an Anglo-Saxon nobleman and a leader of local resista ...

'' (1865) and ''

Westward Ho! Westward Ho! is a seaside village near Bideford in Devon, England. The A39 road provides access from the towns of Barnstaple, Bideford, and Bude. It lies at the south end of Northam Burrows and faces westward into Bideford Bay, opposite Sau ...

'' (1855). Charles Kingsley - project Gutenberg eText 13103

He was sympathetic to the idea of

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

and was one of the first to welcome

's book ''

On the Origin of Species ''On the Origin of Species'' (or, more completely, ''On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life''),The book's full original title was ''On the Origin of Species by Me ...

''. He had been sent an advance review copy and in his response of 18 November 1859 (four days before the book went on sale) stated that he had "long since, from watching the crossing of domesticated animals and plants, learnt to disbelieve the dogma of the permanence of species." Darwin added an edited version of Kingsley's closing remarks to the next edition of his book, stating, "A celebrated author and divine has written to me that 'he has gradually learnt to see that it is just as noble a conception of the Deity to believe that He created a few original forms capable of self-development into other and needful forms, as to believe that He required a fresh act of creation to supply the voids caused by the action of His laws.'" When a heated dispute lasting three years developed over

human evolution Human evolution is the evolutionary process within the history of primates that led to the emergence of ''Homo sapiens'' as a distinct species of the hominid family, which includes the great apes. This process involved the gradual development of ...

, Kingsley gently satirised the debate, known as the ''

Great Hippocampus Question The Great Hippocampus Question was a 19th-century scientific controversy about the anatomy of ape and human uniqueness. The dispute between Thomas Henry Huxley and Richard Owen became central to the scientific debate on human evolution that follow ...

'', as the "Great Hippopotamus Question". Kingsley's concern for social reform is illustrated in his classic, ''

The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby ''The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby'' is a children's novel by Charles Kingsley. Written in 1862–63 as a serial for ''Macmillan's Magazine'', it was first published in its entirety in 1863. It was written as part satire in ...

'' (1863), a tale about a boy

chimney sweep A chimney sweep is a person who clears soot and creosote from chimneys. The chimney uses the pressure difference caused by a hot column of gas to create a draught and draw air over the hot coals or wood enabling continued combustion. Chimneys ...

, which retained its popularity well into the 20th century. The story mentions the main protagonists in the scientific debate over human origins, rearranging his earlier satire as the "great hippopotamus test". The book won a

Lewis Carroll Shelf Award The Lewis Carroll Shelf Award was an American literary award conferred on several books annually by the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Education annually from 1958 to 1979. Award-winning books were deemed to "belong on the same shelf" ...

in 1963. Kingsley's chief asset as a novelist lay in his descriptive faculties: the descriptions of South American scenery in ''Westward Ho!'', of the Egyptian desert in ''Hypatia'', and of the North Devon scenery in ''Two Years Ago''. American scenery is vividly and truthfully described (despite Kingsley having seen it only in his imagination) in his work ''At Last'', written after he had visited the tropics. His sympathy with children taught him how to gain their interest. His version of the old Greek stories entitled ''The Heroes'', and ''Water-babies'' and ''Madam How and Lady Why'', in which he deals with popular natural history, take high rank among books for children. Kingsley was influenced by

Frederick Denison Maurice John Frederick Denison Maurice (29 August 1805 – 1 April 1872), known as F. D. Maurice, was an English Anglican theologian, a prolific author, and one of the founders of Christian socialism. Since World War II, interest in Maurice has exp ...

, and was close to many Victorian thinkers and writers, including the Scottish writer

George MacDonald George MacDonald (10 December 1824 – 18 September 1905) was a Scottish author, poet and Christian Congregational minister. He was a pioneering figure in the field of modern fantasy literature and the mentor of fellow writer Lewis Carroll. I ...

. Kingsley was highly critical of

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

and his argument in print with

John Henry Newman John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English theologian, academic, intellectual, philosopher, polymath, historian, writer, scholar and poet, first as an Anglican ministry, Anglican priest and later as a Catholi ...

, accusing him of untruthfulness and deceit, prompted the latter to write his ''

Apologia Pro Vita Sua ''Apologia Pro Vita Sua'' (Latin: ''A defence of one's own life'') is John Henry Newman's defence of his religious opinions, published in 1864 in response to Charles Kingsley of the Church of England after Newman quit his position as the Anglican ...

''. Kingsley also wrote poetry and political articles, as well as several volumes of sermons. Kingsley coined the term ''

pteridomania Pteridomania or fern fever was a Victorian craze for ferns. Decorative arts of the period presented the fern motif in pottery, glass, metal, textiles, wood, printed paper, and sculpture, with ferns "appearing on everything from christening ...

'' (meaning "a craze for ferns") in his 1855 book ''Glaucus, or the Wonders of the Shore''.

Racial views

Anglo-Saxonism

Kingsley was a fervent Anglo-Saxonist, and was seen as a major proponent of the ideology, particularly in the 1840s. He proposed that the English people were "essentially a Teutonic race, blood-kin to the Germans, Dutch, Scandinavians". Kingsley suggested there was a "strong Norse element in Teutonism and Anglo-Saxonism". Mixing mythology and Christianity, he blended Protestantism as it was practised at the time with the

Old Norse religion Old Norse religion, also known as Norse paganism, is the most common name for a branch of Germanic religion which developed during the Proto-Norse period, when the North Germanic peoples separated into a distinct branch of the Germanic peopl ...

, saying that the

was "wonderfully and mysteriously fitted for the souls of a free Norse-Saxon race". He believed the ancestors of Anglo-Saxons, Norse and

Germanic peoples The Germanic peoples were historical groups of people that once occupied Central Europe and Scandinavia during antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Since the 19th century, they have traditionally been defined by the use of ancient and ear ...

had physically fought beside the god

Odin Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered Æsir, god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, v ...

, and that the British monarchy was genetically descended from the god.

Dislike of the Irish

Kingsley has been accused of intensely antagonistic views of the Irish, whom he described in derogatory terms. Visiting

County Sligo County Sligo ( , gle, Contae Shligigh) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the Border Region and is part of the province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in the county. Sligo County Council is the local ...

in Ireland, he wrote a letter to his wife from

Markree Castle Markree Castle is a castle located in Collooney, County Sligo, Ireland. It is the ancestral seat of the Cooper family, partially moated by the River Unshin. Today it is a small family-run hotel. In the 1830s the Observatory on the grounds of the ...

in 1860: "I am haunted by the human chimpanzees I saw along that hundred miles of horrible country

reland Adriaan Reland (also known as ''Adriaen Reeland/Reelant'', ''Hadrianus Relandus'') (17 July 1676, De Rijp, North Holland5 February 1718, UtrechtJohn Gorton, ''A General Biographical Dictionary'', 1838, Whittaker & Co.) was a noted Dutch Orientali ...

.. orto see white chimpanzees is dreadful; if they were black, one would not see it so much, but their skins, except where tanned by exposure, are as white as ours."

Legacy

Charles Kingsley - Bideford (2006-03-04)

Charles Kingsley's novel ''

'' led to the founding of a village by the same name (the only place name in England with an exclamation mark) and inspired the construction of the

Bideford, Westward Ho! and Appledore Railway The Bideford, Westward Ho! and Appledore Railway (B, WH & A, R) was a railway running in northwest Devon, England. It is unusual in that although it was built as a standard gauge line, it was not joined to the rest of the British railway netwo ...

. A hotel in Westward Ho! was named after and opened by him. A hotel which was opened in 1897 in

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions. Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest mus ...

, London, and named after Kingsley was founded by

teetotallers Teetotalism is the practice or promotion of total personal abstinence from the psychoactive drug alcohol, specifically in alcoholic drinks. A person who practices (and possibly advocates) teetotalism is called a teetotaler or teetotaller, or is ...

, who admired Kingsley for his political views and his ideas on social reform. It still exists as ''The Kingsley by Thistle''. In 1905 the composer

Cyril Rootham Cyril Bradley Rootham (5 October 1875 – 18 March 1938) was an English composer, educator and organist. His work at Cambridge University made him an influential figure in English music life. A Fellow of St John's College, where he was also or ...

wrote a musical setting of Kingsley's poem ''Andromeda''. This was performed at the Bristol Music Festival in 1908. Like Kingsley, Rootham had been educated at Bristol Grammar School.Composer's website. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
/ref>

Published works

*''

Yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to constitut ...

'', a novel (1848) *''Saint's Tragedy'' (1848), a drama *''

Alton Locke ''Alton Locke'' is an 1850 novel, by Charles Kingsley, written in sympathy with the Chartist movement, in which Carlyle is introduced as one of the personages. Overview In this novel, Kingsley set out to expose the social injustice suffered ...

'', a novel (1849) *''Twenty-five Village Sermons'' (1849) *''Cheap Clothes and Nasty'' (1850) *''Phaeton, or Loose Thoughts for Loose Thinkers'' (1852) *''Sermons on National Subjects'' (1st series, 1852) *''

'', a novel (1853) *''Glaucus, or the Wonders of the Shore'' (1855) *''Sermons on National Subjects'' (2nd series, 1854) *''Alexandria and her Schools'' (1854) *''

'', a novel (1855) *''Sermons for the Times'' (1855) *''The Heroes, Greek fairy tales'' (1856) *''Two Years Ago'', a novel (1857) *''Andromeda and other Poems'' (1858) *''The Good News of God'', sermons (1859) *''Miscellanies'' (1859) *''Limits of Exact Science applied to History'' (Inaugural lectures, 1860) *''Town and Country Sermons'' (1861) *''Sermons on the Pentateuch'' (1863) *''

'' (1863) *''The Roman and the Teuton'' (1864) *''David and other Sermons'' (1866) *'' Hereward the Wake: "Last of the English"'', a novel (London: Macmillan, 1866) *''The Ancient Régime'' (Lectures at the Royal Institution, 1867) *''Water of Life and other Sermons'' (1867) *''The Hermits'' (1869) *''Madam How and Lady Why'' (1869) *''At Last: a Christmas in the West Indies'' (1871) *''Town Geology'' (1872) *''Discipline and other Sermons'' (1872) *''Prose Idylls'' (1873) *''Plays and Puritans'' (1873) *''Health and Education'' (1874) *''Westminster Sermons'' (1874) *''Lectures delivered in America'' (1875)

References

Citations

Sources

* 2nd edition. Retrieved on 20 July 2007 * (

The Autobiography of Charles Darwin ''The Autobiography of Charles Darwin'' is an autobiography by the English naturalist Charles Darwin. Darwin wrote the text, which he entitled ''Recollections of the Development of my Mind and Character'', for his family. He states that he star ...

) Retrieved on 20 July 2007 * *

External links

* * *
Famous Quotes by Charles KingsleyA painted bollard based on a water fairy
unveiled in

Whitchurch, Hampshire Whitchurch is a town in the borough of Basingstoke and Deane in Hampshire, England. It is on the River Test, south of Newbury, Berkshire, north of Winchester, east of Andover and west of Basingstoke. Much of the town is a Conservation Area. ...

(photo within article) *
Index entry for Charles Kingsley at Poets' CornerCharles Kingsley collection, 1851–1871
at Pitts Theology Library,

Candler School of Theology Candler School of Theology is one of seven graduate schools at Emory University, located in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. A university-based school of theology, Candler educates ministers, scholars of religion and other leaders. It is also o ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kingsley, Charles 1819 births 1875 deaths 19th-century Christian universalists 19th-century English Anglican priests 19th-century English novelists 19th-century English historians Regius Professors of History (Cambridge) Alumni of King's College London Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge Anglican socialists Anglican universalists Anglican writers Burials in Hampshire Canons of Westminster Christian universalist clergy Deaths from pneumonia in England English Christian socialists English Christian universalists English historical novelists English male novelists English sermon writers People educated at Bristol Grammar School People from Barnack People from Torridge District Victorian novelists Writers of historical fiction set in the Middle Ages Clergy from Devon