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At the Circulating Library

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

Author: Charles Richard Durant

Author: Charles Richard Durant (1853–1923)

Biography: Charles Richard Durant was born in 1853 in London, the son of silk broker Charles James Durant. His family was wealthy, having homes in Rutland and fashionable London. Durant attended Eton, which would figure in his first novel Wynyard of High Wynyard (1878). He followed with a second novel, but thereafter gave up writing. There is no evidence Durant pursued any other career. In 1887, he married Nora Augusta Maud Finlay, the daughter of Hercules Robinson, first Baron Rosmead, and the couple had one son. He died of pneuonia on 28 September 1923 in London. According to his probate, he left a small fortune of £100,000 to his wife.

References: British Census (1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901, 1911); Eton Register; Probate; Westminister Gazette (1 October 1923)

Fiction Titles:

  1. Wynyard of High Wynyard: A Novel of the Present Day.  2 vol.  London: Chapman and Hall, 1878.
  2. The Lady of Oakmere: or, Lost Lives.  3 vol.  London: Chapman and Hall, 1879.