At the Circulating Library

Author: Henry Cresswell

Author: Henry Cresswell (1846–1925)

Alternate Name(s): Richard Henry Cresswell (legal name)

Biography: Richard Henry Cresswell was born on 28 April 1846 in Salcombe Regis, the eldest child of botanist the Rev. Richard Cresswell and his wife Frances Creighton. He attended Oxford University earning both a B. A. and an M. A. After his ordination, he took up a curacy at Christ Church, Clapham whose vicar conformed to his Anglo-Catholic views. While there, he wrote three religious works. On 23 September 1873, he married Margaret Rosina Wolf and the couple would have one daughter, Clarice Mercedes Cresswell. In 1880, Cresswell gave up his duties at Christ Church and inexplicably turned to fiction writing. His first two novels appeared anonymously; whereas the latter titles appeared under the name "Henry Cresswell." In addition to 18 novels, Cresswell wrote two plays. Remarkably, no one connected the novelist with the high-church clergyman. In his later years, Cresswell served as a curate at St. John the Baptist Church in North Kensington. He died there on 16 March 1925. His daughter Clarice would go on to write several novels herself.

Author Tags:

• Clergymen
• Oxford University
• Parents of Novelists
• Playwrights

References: British Census (1871, 1881, 1891); Peter Hodge, The Cresswells of Winchmore Hill (1999); pers inf (M. A. Taylor)

Fiction Titles:

1. A Modern Greek Heroine.  3 vol.  London: Hurst and Blackett, 1880.
2. Fair and Free.  3 vol.  London: Smith, Elder, 1882.
3. Incognita.  3 vol.  London: Hurst and Blackett, 1884.
4. The Sins of the Fathers.  3 vol.  London: Hurst and Blackett, 1885.
5. The Survivors.  3 vol.  London: Hurst and Blackett, 1886.
6. A Wily Widow.  3 vol.  London: Hurst and Blackett, 1888.
7. My Lord Othello.  3 vol.  London: Hurst and Blackett, 1889.
8. Sliding Sands.  3 vol.  London: Hurst and Blackett, 1890.
9. The Hermits of Crizebeck.  3 vol.  London: Hurst and Blackett, 1891.
10. A Woman's Ambition.  3 vol.  London: Hurst and Blackett, 1892.
11. Fairest of Three.  3 vol.  London: Hurst and Blackett, 1892.
12. Disinherited.  3 vol.  London: Hurst and Blackett, 1893.
13. A Precious Scamp.  3 vol.  London: Hutchinson, 1894.
14. Broken Fortunes.  3 vol.  London: Hurst and Blackett, 1894.
15. Cancelled Bonds.  3 vol.  London: Hurst and Blackett, 1895.
16. The Wooing of Fortune.  1 vol.  London: Hurst and Blackett, 1896.
17. Without Issue.  1 vol.  London: Hurst and Blackett, 1897.
18. A Lady of Misrule.  1 vol.  London: Chatto and Windus, 1903.