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At the Circulating Library

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

Author: Edward Peacock

Author: Edward Peacock (1831–1915)

Biography: Edward Peacock was born in 1831 in Hemsworth, Yorkshire, the son of Edward Shaw Peacock, a noted Lincolnshire agriculturalist of his day. Peacock was educated at home and as a young man he converted to Catholicism (influenced by Newman). Early in life, Peacock turned his attention to history and archeology and wrote numerous antiquarian works, mostly focused on his native Lincolnshire. He was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1857. He was a prolific journalist, contributing in particular to Athenaeum as a reviewer for forty years and Notes and Queries. In addition to his historical work, Peacock wrote four novels: the historical novel Ralf Skirlaugh (1870), the Lincolnshire set Mabel Heron (1872), John Markenfield (1874) about the U.S. Civil War in Kansas, and Narcissa Brendon (1891). None of his books were particularly successful. In 1853 he married the American Lucy Anne Weatherall and the couple had six children. By the late 1890s, Peacock was suffering financially: his farm brought in less revenue and his daughters remained unmarried. He received support from the Royal Literary Fund in 1899 and 1902. He died in 1915 at his home Bottesford Manor, Lincolnshire.

Author Tags:

References: P.B.G. Binnall, "A List of the Principal Writings of Edward Peacock, F.S.A." Lincolnshire Historian (1962); British Census (1871, 1881); Men of the Time (1887); RLF (case number 2534); Times (3 April 1915)

Fiction Titles:

  1. Ralf Skirlaugh the Lincolnshire Squire: A Novel.  3 vol.  London: Chapman and Hall, 1870.
  2. Mabel Heron: A Novel.  3 vol.  London: Chapman and Hall, 1872.
  3. John Markenfield: A Novel.  3 vol.  London: Chapman and Hall, 1874.
  4. Narcissa Brendon: A Romance.  2 vol.  London: John Hodges, 1891.