MORTIMER

See also:

• COLLINS, ANTHONY (1676-1729)
• COLLINS, JOHN CHURTON (1848-1908)
• MORTIMER COLLINS (1827-1876)
• COLLINS, WILLIAM (1721-1759)
• COLLINS, WILLIAM (1787–1847)
• COLLINS, WILLIAM WILKIE (1824–1889)

COLLINS (1827-1876)  , English writer, was born at Plymouth, where his father, Francis Collins, was a solicitor, on the 29th of June 1827 . He was educated at a private school, and after some years spent as mathematical master at Queen Elizabeth's College, Guernsey, he went to London, where he devoted himself to journalism in the Conservative interest . In 1855 he published his Idyls and Rhymes; and in 1865 appeared his first story, Who is the Heir ? A second volume of lyrics, The Inn of Strange Meetings, was issued in 1871; and in 1872 he produced his longest and best sustained poem, The British Birds, a communication from the Ghost of Aristophanes . He also wrote several capital novels, the best of which is perhaps Sweet Anne Page (1868) . Some of his lyrics, in their light grace, their sparkling wit, their airy philosophy, are equal to anything of their kind in modern English . On his second marriage in 1368 he settled at Knowl Hill, Berkshire . Collins was an athlete, an excellent pedestrian, and an enthusiastic lover of country life; and from this time he rarely left his home for a day . Conservative in his political and literary tastes, an ardent upholder of Church and State, he was yet a hater of convention; and his many and very varied gifts endeared him to a large circle of friends . He died on the 28th of July 1876 .