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At the Circulating Library

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

Author: Anne Young

Author: Anne Young (1824–1911)

Alternate Name(s): Adrian (pseudonym); Mrs. Charles Kent (married name)

Biography: Anne Young was born in 1824 in London, the daughter of Murdo Young. Her father was a Scottish poet and proprietor of the Sun newspaper. As a young woman, she wrote two novels under the pseudonym "Adrian": Evelyn Stuart (1846) and Silwood (1849). In 1853, she married William Charles Mark Kent (better known as simply "Charles Kent") the barrister, poet, journalist, and editor of the Sun from 1845 to 1871. He later bought the paper from Young's father and, after its end, edited the Weekly Register (1874–81). The couple had seven children. Young appears to have stopped writing fiction but contributed to the press until 1906. Kent was a well-connected literary man, counting Dickens as a personal friend. In fact, the last letter Dickens sent was addressed to Kent. He died in 1902 and she died in 1911. Their eldest daughter, Marianne Kent, wrote a novel Philip Mordant's Ward (1888) and a handful of short stories.

Author Tags:

References: British Census (1851, 1861, 1881); DNB (Charles Kent)

Fiction Titles:

  1. Evelyn Stuart: or, Right versus Might.  3 vol.  London: Bentley, 1846.
  2. Silwood: A Novel.  2 vol.  London: Bentley, 1849.