Benjamin Leopold Farjeon (12 May 1838 – 23 July 1903) was an English novelist, playwright, printer and journalist. As an author, he was known for his huge output.

Life

Farjeon was born in London to Dinah Levy and Jacob Farjeon,

Orthodox Jews Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Jewish theology, Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Torah, Written and Oral Torah, Or ...

. He was raised in

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 ...

and had no formal secular education. At 14, he entered the office of the ''Nonconformist'', a Christian journal, to learn the printing trade. He broke away from the strict faith of his father and in 1854 emigrated to Australia. During the voyage he was moved from steerage to cabin class because he had produced some numbers of a ship newspaper, the ''Ocean Record''. Farjeon worked as a gold miner in

Victoria (Australia) Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in ...

, started a newspaper, then went to New Zealand in 1861. He settled in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, working as a journalist on the ''

Otago Daily Times The ''Otago Daily Times'' (ODT) is a newspaper published by Allied Press Ltd in Dunedin, New Zealand. The ''ODT'' is one of the country's four main daily newspapers, serving the southern South Island with a circulation of around 26,000 and a co ...

'', edited by

Julius Vogel Sir Julius Vogel (24 February 1835 – 12 March 1899) was the eighth premier of New Zealand. His administration is best remembered for the issuing of bonds to fund railway construction and other public works. He was the first Jewish prime mi ...

, of which he became manager and sub-editor. Farjeon began writing novels and plays, as a self-confessed disciple of

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 er ...

, whose attention he managed to catch. In his novel ''Grif: A story of Australian life'', for example, he modelled the

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

street Arab Grif on Jo 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 ...

''.''XIX Century Fiction'', Part I, A–K (Jarndyce, Bloomsbury, 2019). In 1868, he returned to Britain and lived in London in the

Adelphi Theatre The Adelphi Theatre is a West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster, central London. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receivin ...

. Over the next 35 years, Farjeon produced nearly 60 novels. Many of his works were illustrated by his long-time friend Nicholas Chevalier. Benjamin Farjeon died in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the London Borough o ...

on 23 July 1903, aged 65.

Family

Farjeon married Margaret Jane "Maggie" Jefferson (1853–1933), daughter of the American actor

Joseph Jefferson Joseph Jefferson III, commonly known as Joe Jefferson (February 20, 1829 – April 23, 1905), was an American actor. He was the third actor of this name in a family of actors and managers, and one of the most famous 19th century American comedia ...

, on 6 June 1877. He was the father of J. Jefferson Farjeon, Eleanor Farjeon, Herbert Farjeon, and

Harry Farjeon Harry Farjeon (6 May 1878 – 29 December 1948) was a British composer and an influential teacher of harmony and composition at the Royal Academy of Music for more than 45 years. Early life and studies Harry Farjeon was born in Hohokus Township, ...

Selected novels

*''Shadows on the Snow: A Christmas Story'' (1865) *''Grif: a Story of Australian Life'' (1870) *''Jessie Trim'' (1870) *''Blade-o'-Grass: A Christmas Story'' (1871) *''Joshua Marvel'' (1871) *''London's Heart'' (1873) *''Bread-and-Cheese and Kisses: A Christmas Story'' (1873) *''Golden Grain'' (1874) *''The King of No-Land'' (1875) *''The Duchess of Rosemary Lane'' (1876) *''An Island Pearl'' (1876) *''At the Sign of the Silver Flagon'' (1880) *''Great Porter Square: A Mystery'' (1884) *''The House of White Shadows'' (1884) *''Love's Harvest ''(1885) *''The Sacred Nugget'' (1885) *''In a Silver Sea'' (1886) *''The Nine of Hearts'' (1886) *''A Secret Inheritance'' (1887) *''The Tragedy of Featherstone'' (1887) *''Devlin the Barber'' (1888) *''Toilers of Babylon'' (1888) *''The Peril of Richard Pardon'' (1888) *''Miser Fairbrother'' (1888) *''The Mystery of M. Felix'' (1890) *''For the Defense'' (1891) *''The Blood White Rose'' (1891) *''The Last Tenant'' (1893) *''Something Occurred'' (1893) *''Aaron the Jew'' (1894) (US title: ''A Fair Jewess'') *''Miriam Rozella'' (1898) *''Samuel Boyd of Catchpole Square: A Mystery'' (1899) *''The Mesmerists'' (1900)

Notes

References

* * * * * * * Additional sources listed by the ''

Dictionary of Australian Biography The ''Dictionary of Australian Biography'', published in 1949, is a reference work by Percival Serle containing information on notable people associated with Australian history. With approximately a thousand entries, the book took more than ...

'': ** Eleanor Farjeon, ''A Nursery in the Nineties'', which gives a charming account of Farjeon's happy married life ** E. Morris Miller, ''Australian Literature'' ** ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'', 24 July 1903; ''Who's Who'', 1943 ** ''

Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...

External links

Herbert Farjeon archive at the University of Bristol Theatre Collection

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

''Shadows on the Snow: a Christmas story'' at NZetc website
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Farjeon, Benjamin 1838 births 1903 deaths 19th-century English novelists English Jewish writers

Benjamin Benjamin ( he, ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the last of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel (Jacob's thi ...

New Zealand journalists People from Hampstead Writers from Dunedin People from Whitechapel People from Victoria (Australia) English male novelists 19th-century English male writers