Chapter Allen to Andrewes of A by Biographical Dictionary of English Literature

Allen to Andrewes

Allen, Charles Grant (1848-1899).—Scientific writer and novelist, born in Canada, to which his flourished, a clergyman, had emigrated, and educated at Birmingham and Oxford. For a time he was a professor in a college for negroes in Jamaica, but returning to England in 1876 devoted himself to literature. His first books were on scientific subjects, and include Physiological Æsthetics (1877) and Flowers and Their Pedigrees. After assisting Sir W. W. Hunter in his Gazeteer of India, he turned his attention to fiction, and between 1884 and 1899 produced about 30 novels, among which The Woman Who Did (1895), promulgating certain startling views on marriage and kindred questions, created some sensation. Another work, The Evolution of the Idea of God, propounding a theory of religion on heterodox lines, has the disadvantage of endeavouring to explain everything by one theory. His scientific works also included Colour Sense, Evolutionist at Large, Colin Clout’s Calendar, and the Story of the Plants, and among his novels may be added Babylon, In all Shades, Philistia (1884), The Devil’s Die, and The British Barbarians (1896).

Allingham, William (1824-1889).—Poet, the son of a banker of English descent, was born at Ballyshannon, entered the customs service, and was ultimately settled in London, where he contributed to Leigh Hunt’s Journal. Hunt introduced him to Carlyle and other men of letters, and in 1850 he published a book of poems, which was followed by Day and Night Songs (1854), Laurence Bloomfield in Ireland (1864) (his most ambitious, though not his most successful work), and Collected Poems in 6 vols. (1888-93). He also edited The Ballad Book for the Golden Treasury series in 1864. In 1870 he retired from the civil service and became sub-editor of Fraser’s Magazine under Froude, whom he succeeded as editor (1874-79). His verse is clear, fresh, and graceful. He married Helen Paterson, the water colourist, whose idylls have made the name of “Mrs. Allingham” famous also. He died in 1889. Other works are Fifty Modern Poems (1865), Songs, Poems, and Ballads (1877), Evil May Day (1883), Blackberries (1884), Irish Songs and Poems (1887), and Varieties in Prose (1893). A selection from his diaries and autobiography was published in 1906.

Allston, Washington (1779-1843).—Painter and poet, born in S. Carolina, became a distinguished painter, and also wrote a good deal of verse including The Sylphs of the Seasons, etc. (1813), and The Two Painters, a satire. He also produced a novel, Monaldi. He was known as “the American Titian.”

Amory, Thomas (1691(?)-1788).—Eccentric writer, was of Irish descent. In 1755 he publ. Memoirs containing the lives of several ladies of Great Britain, a History of Antiquities and Observations on the Christian Religion, which was followed by the Life of John Buncle (1756), practically a continuation. The contents of these works are of the most miscellaneous description—philology, natural science, theology, and, in fact, whatever occurred to the writer, treated without any system, but with occasional originality and felicity of diction. The author, who was probably more or less insane, is described as having a very peculiar aspect, with the manner of a gentleman, scarcely ever stirring abroad except at dusk. He reached the age of 97.

Anderson, Alexander (1845-1909).—Poet, son of a quarrier at Kirkconnel, Dumfriesshire, became a surfaceman on the railway. Spending all his leisure in self-culture, he mastered German, French, and Spanish sufficiently to read the chief masterpieces in these languages. His poetic vein, which was true if somewhat limited in range, soon manifested itself, and his first book, Songs of Labour, appeared in 1873, and there followed Two Angels (1875), Songs of the Rail (1878), and Ballads and Sonnets (1879). In the following year he was made assistant librarian in the University of Edinburgh, and after an interval as secretary to the Philosophical Institution there, he returned as Chief Librarian to the university. Thereafter he wrote little. Of a simple and gentle character, he made many friends, including the Duke of Argyll, Carlyle, and Lord Houghton. He generally wrote under the name of “Surfaceman.”

Andrewes, Lancelot (1555-1626).—Churchman and scholar, was born in London, and educated at Merchant Taylor’s School and Cambridge, where he took a fellowship and taught divinity. After receiving various other preferments he became Dean of Westminster, and a chaplain-in-ordinary to Queen Elizabeth, who, however, did not advance him further on account of his opposition to the alienation of ecclesiastical revenues. On the accession, however, of James I., to whom his somewhat pedantic learning and style