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At the Circulating Library

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

Author: Katharine King

Author: Katharine King (1844–1925)

Alternate Name(s): Anne Katharine King (legal name)

Biography: Anna Katharine King was born on 3 February 1844 in Co. Sligo, the daughter of Captain John Wingfield King (1807–1868) and his first wife Alicia (née Coote). Her father served with the Northumberland Fusileers. She attended a ladies' boarding school in Steyning in her teens. She never married. In her twenties, she began writing novels beginning with The Queen of the Regiment (1872). Many of her novels feature far flung settings and military officers, no doubt inspired by her father. For a time, she lived with her brother Henry Edward King (1832–1910) in Brisbane. Only her novel Lost for Gold (1873) has Australia as a setting. By 1881, she lived in Kensington where she described her occupation as an "artist animal painter"; by 1891, she lived in Brackley, Northamptonshire as an "author and artist" with several relatives. She spent her later years in Cork where she died on 19 march 1925. Note: Several sources erroneously attribute novels by Mary Jane Martin to King.

Author Tags:

References: ADB (Henry Edward King); AustLit; British Census (1861, 1881, 1891); Burke; Irish Census (1901, 1911); Weekly Irish Times (28 March 1925)

Fiction Titles:

  1. The Queen of the Regiment.  3 vol.  London: Hurst and Blackett, 1872.
  2. Lost for Gold.  3 vol.  London: Hurst and Blackett, 1873.
  3. Cruel Constancy.  3 vol.  London: Samuel Tinsley, 1873.
  4. Off the Roll.  3 vol.  London: Hurst and Blackett, 1875.
  5. Our Detachment.  3 vol.  London: Hurst and Blackett, 1875.
  6. The Bubble Reputation.  3 vol.  London: Hurst and Blackett, 1878.
  7. A Fallen Foe.  3 vol.  London: Hurst and Blackett, 1883.
  8. The Law Forbids.  3 vol.  London: Hurst and Blackett, 1885.
  9. Sweet is True Love.  2 vol.  London: Hurst and Blackett, 1888.