Trollope, Anthony (1815-1882)

Trollope, Anthony

NOVELIST, CIVIL SERVANT (ENGLAND)

BORN 24 Apr 1815, London - DIED 6 Dec 1882, London
CAUSE OF DEATH paralytic stroke (consequences of)
GRAVE LOCATION London: Kensal Green Cemetery, Harrow Road, Kensal Green (138/PS (28259))

Son of the barrister Thomas Anthony Trollope and Francis Milton. He was educated at Harrow School and Winchester College. In 1827 his mother Frances left for the United States with Francis Wright and Auguste Hervieu. She opened a bazaar in Cincinnati, but it failed. Anthony had stayed in England and after Frances returned in 1831 she quickly became a good selling author. Her first book was "Domestic Manners of the Americans" (1832).

But Anthony Trollope went bankrupt and the family had to flee to Belgium in 1834 to avoid his arrest. They lived at Bruges from the money earned by Frances' writings. In 1835 Thomas died.

In Belgium Anthony worked as an assistent teacher. He returned to London for a job as a junior clerk in the British Post Office. There he was poor and lonely until he was sent to Ireland by the Post Office as a deputy postal surveyor in 1841. In Ireland he married Rose Heseltine, the daughter of the manager of a bank, in 1844. He had to travel a lot by train for his work and he started writing during these trips. His first successful novel was "The Warden" (1855).

In 1859 he returned to England and in 1860 he visited his mother in Florence and there he met Kate Field, with whom be became close friends. It is unknown if they had an affair, but his wife met her as well in 1861 in Boston. His work had gained him fame and he became friends with W. E. Forster, George Eliot and G. H. Lewes.

By 1865 he had a senior position at the Post Office and the red pillar box was introduced by him. In 1867 he left the Post Office and he tried to enter parliament as a Liberal. But he lost the elections and for a while he became the editor of St. Paul's Magazine. In 1871 he visited his son in Australia.

He wrote very prolifically and many of his novels were published in St. Paul's Magazine. "The Way We Live Now" (1875) was regarded as his best work by his critics. He wrote almost fifty novels, but later in life his work became less popular. His autobiography appeared after his death in 1882. In the twentieth century his work regained popularity and some of his novels are still widely read. His older brother Thomas lived in Italy and was a writer as well.

Family
• Mother: Trollope, Frances

Related persons
• was a friend of Eliot, George
• met Home, Daniel Dunglas
• was a friend of Lewes, George Henry
• was a friend of Thackeray, William Makepeace

Events