Online Encyclopedia

WILLIAM HENRY GILES KINGSTON (1814-188o)

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Originally appearing in Volume V15, Page 820 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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WILLIAM HENRY GILES KINGSTON (1814-188o)  ,
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English novelist, son of Lucy Henry Kingston, was born in
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London on the 28th of
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February 1814 . Much of his 'youth was spent at Oporto, where his
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father was a merchant, but when he entered the business, he made his headquarters in London . He early wrote newspaper articles on Portuguese subjects . These were translated into Portuguese, and the author received a Portuguese order of
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knighthood and a pension for his services in the conclusion of the commercial treaty of 1842 . In 1844 his first
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book, The Circassian Chief, appeared, and in 1845 The Prime Minister, a Story of the Days of the
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Great
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Marquis of Pombal . The Lusitanian Sketches describe Kingston's travels in
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Portugal . In "1851 Peter the Whaler, his first book for boys, came out . These books proved so popular that Kingston retired from business, and devoted himself to the production of tales of adventure for boys . Within
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thirty years he wrote upwards of one
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hundred and thirty such hooks . He had a
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practical knowledge of
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seamanship, and his stories of the sea, full of thrilling adventures and hairbreadth escapes, exactly
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hit the taste of his boy readers . Characteristic specimens of his
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work are The Three Midshipmen; The Three Lieutenants; The Three Commanders; and The Three Admirals . He also wrote popular accounts of famous travellers by
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land and sea, and translated some of the stories of Jules Verne .

In all philanthropic schemes Kingston took deep

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interest; he was the
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promoter of the
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mission to seamen; and he acted as secretary of a society for promoting an improved
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system of emigration . He was editor of the Colonist for a short time in 1844 and of the Colonial
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Magazine and East
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Indian Review from 1849 to 1851 . He was a supporter of the volunteer
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movement in England from the first . He died at
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Willesden on the 5th of August 1880 .

End of Article: WILLIAM HENRY GILES KINGSTON (1814-188o)
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