Samuel Warren (23 May 1807 – 29 July 1877), was a British barrister, novelist and MP.

Life

He was born in Wales at Rackery Farm near Wrexham,

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...

, the son of Anne (née Williams), who died in 1823, and Samuel Warren (1781–1862), a Wesleyan Methodist minister, who formed a breakaway group, and in later life was an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

priest in

Ancoats Ancoats is an area of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England. It is located next to the Northern Quarter, the northern part of Manchester city centre. Historically in Lancashire, Ancoats became a cradle of the Industrial Revolution and has ...

. The memoirs of Samuel Dousland Waddy, an apprentice in 1820 to a London linen draper, state that Warren was also an apprentice there. It is thought by Dunlop that as a teenager Warren worked in a medical capacity, perhaps as an apprentice to an apothecary. Warren attended the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

to study medicine, in the years 1826 to 1828, where he won prizes and attention, but did not take a degree. He then entered the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

, studying law and acting as a

special pleader A special pleader was a historical legal occupation. The practitioner, or "special pleader" in English law specialised in drafting "pleadings", in modern terminology statements of case. History Up to the 19th century, there were many rules, tech ...

, and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1837. In 1852 he was made Recorder of Hull. Entering politics, Warren sat in the House of Commons for

Midhurst Midhurst () is a market town, parish and civil parish in West Sussex, England. It lies on the River Rother inland from the English Channel, and north of the county town of Chichester. The name Midhurst was first recorded in 1186 as ''Middeh ...

1856–1859, and was a Master in Lunacy 1859–77. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in April 1835. He died in London.

Works

''Passages from the Diary of a Late Physician'', by Warren but initially published anonymously, was a series of sensational tales, fictional

case histories ''Case Histories'' (2004) is a detective novel by British author Kate Atkinson and is set in Cambridge, England. It introduces Jackson Brodie, a former police inspector and now private investigator. The plot revolves around three seemingly unc ...

, published first in ''

Blackwood's Magazine ''Blackwood's Magazine'' was a British magazine and miscellany printed between 1817 and 1980. It was founded by the publisher William Blackwood and was originally called the ''Edinburgh Monthly Magazine''. The first number appeared in April 1817 ...

'' from August 1830 to 1837. It was hugely successful. The

frame story A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...

to the series is of "early struggles" of a young medical man, and has been taken to contain embellished autobiographical material. In the preface to fifth edition (1855) was Warren's statement that "I was six years actively engaged in the practical study of physic". The structure and use of professional anecdotes as a vehicle are now considered foundational for later mainstream

crime fiction Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

. The tales contributed also to a sub-genre of the

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

, known as "''Blackwood's'' fiction", which often used the supernatural, or apparent supernatural, and owed something to

John Ferriar John Ferriar (1761 – 4 February 1815), was a Scottish physician and a poet, most noted for his leadership of the Manchester Infirmary, and his studies of the causes of diseases such as typhoid. Background Ferriar was born near Jedburgh, R ...

and

Samuel Hibbert-Ware Samuel Hibbert-Ware (21 April 1782 – 30 December 1848), born Samuel Hibbert in St Ann's Square Manchester, was an English geologist and antiquarian. Life He was the eldest son of Samuel Hibbert (d.1815), a linen yarn merchant, and his wife S ...

. Proposed bookends are an 1821 story by

William Maginn William Maginn (10 July 1794 – 21 August 1842) was an Irish journalist and writer. About Born at Cork he became a contributor to ''Blackwood's Magazine'', and after moving to London in 1824 became for a few months in 1826 the Paris correspond ...

, and one by

Samuel Ferguson Sir Samuel Ferguson (10 March 1810 – 9 August 1886) was an Irish poet, barrister, antiquarian, artist and public servant. He was an acclaimed 19th-century Irish poet, and his interest in Irish mythology and early Irish history can be seen ...

in 1837, when Warren's series had concluded. Warren was also the author of two novels: # ''

Ten Thousand a-Year ''Ten Thousand a-Year'' is a novel written by English barrister Samuel Warren. First published in 1841, it enjoyed widespread popularity in the United States and Europe for much of the century. Background When first published, the novel was sp ...

'' (1839), with social satire written from a Tory standpoint. First published in ''Blackwood's Magazine''. It was based on the contemporary peerage claim of

Alexander Humphrys-Alexander Alexander Humphrys-Alexander (1783–4 May 1859) was a claimant to the vacant Earldom of Stirling and rights to vast lands in eastern Canada, referring back to a Royal Charter granted to the 1st Earl by James I in 1621 to colonize Nova Scotia and ...

, a forgery case. The shallow, profligate young protagonist, Tittlebat Titmouse, is said to be based on

Edward Oxford Edward Oxford (18 April 1822 – 23 April 1900) was the first of seven people who tried to assassinate Queen Victoria. After Oxford was arrested and charged with treason, a jury found that Oxford was not guilty by reason of insanity and he ...

, who tried to assassinate Queen Victoria. # ''Now and Then'' (1847), a

social novel The social novel, also known as the social problem (or social protest) novel, is a "work of fiction in which a prevailing social problem, such as gender, race, or class prejudice, is dramatized through its effect on the characters of a novel". More ...

of criminality and the law, arguing from a Methodis perspective the moral case for reform. It was based in outline on an actual case in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

, and had little success. The influence of Warren on

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 ...

has been traced, for example in ''

Bleak House ''Bleak House'' is a novel by Charles Dickens, first published as a 20-episode serial between March 1852 and September 1853. The novel has many characters and several sub-plots, and is told partly by the novel's heroine, Esther Summerson, and ...

''. Warren was also a legal writer. His ''Select Extracts from Blackstone's Commentaries'' (first edition 1836) was with John William Smith, whose name did not appear.

Family

Warren married in 1831 Elizabeth (Eliza) Ballenger (died 1868), daughter of James Ballenger of Woodford Bridge House,

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, who had married in 1824 W. Vanhouse; they had two sons and a daughter. Eliza's father, who died in 1830, was a sugar refiner in Davenant Street,

Whitechapel Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed ...

. The elder son, Samuel Lilckendey Warren (born 1835), graduated B.A. in 1859 and became an Anglian priest. The younger son, Edward Walpole Warren (1838–1903), was another cleric, a Cambridge graduate. He was rector of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, Manhattan, from 1887 to 1895. Warren married, secondly, Louisa Beaumont in 1871.

References

External links

* *
Samuel Warren: A Victorian Law and Literature Practitioner, by C.R.B. Dunlop
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Warren, Samuel 1807 births 1877 deaths People from Wrexham 19th-century British writers Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1857–1859 Fellows of the Royal Society Victorian novelists Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Masters of the High Court (England and Wales)