Robert Edward Francillon

Robert Edward Francillon (1841–1919) was an English journalist and author. He was active in the later decades of the 19th century, and rose to be managing editor of The Globe .

Life and career

Born in Gloucester, ^[1] Francillon trained as a barrister but turned to journalism. He was at various times a contributor to Blackwood's Magazine and an editor of Tatler . He contributed for many years to the Christmas numbers of The Gentleman's Magazine , ^[2] and sold many short stories to newspapers. (Most of those that were published in Australia can be read on-line thanks to the Trove service of the National Library of Australia.) His novel Jack Doyle's Daughter lets a Lincolnshire gentleman loose in Bohemian London. It has been called an "incoherent" tale involving an "heiress with six possible fathers". ^[3]

Francillon's review "George Eliot's First Romance (1876)" defends Daniel Deronda from early critics. He notes that as a romance it differs in kind from Adam Bede or Middlemarch : "It lies so far outside George Eliot's other works in every important respect as to make direct comparison impossible." ^[4]

In 1890, Francillon was reported to be the managing editor of the London newspaper The Globe. ^[5]

Along with Swinburne, Francillon, belonged to Thomas Purnell's literary club "Decemviri", and was an early member of the neo-Jacobite body known as the Order of the White Rose.^{[ citation needed ]} Francillon married a daughter of the composer John Barnett, who was also a goddaughter of Franz Liszt. ^[6]

Some works by Francillon

Short stories and novelettes, published in Australian newspapers

• Olympia ^[7]
• A Queen of Trumps ^[8]
• Queen Cophetua ^[9]
• A Bad Bargain ^[10]
• Esther's Glove ^[11]
• The Seal of the Snake ^[12]
• The Way of the Wind, first published in the London Almanac in 1888 ^[13]
• Golden Rod ^[14]
• No Conjuror ^[15]
• Fad and Her Fetish ^[16]
• The Luck of Luke Parris ^[17]
• Veni, Vidi, Vici ^[18]
• A Learned Lady ^[19]
• Silver and Gold ^[20]
• Double Sixes ^[21]
• M or N ^[22]
• Owen Murtagh's Girl ^[23]
• An Obstinate Blockhead ^[24]

Songs

• Frederic Hymen Cowen; R. E. Francillon (lyricist) (1870), It was a dream , retrieved 10 May 2017
• Frederic Hymen Cowen; R. E. Francillon (lyricist), Why ^[25]
• Frederic Hymen Cowen; R. E. Francillon (lyricist) (1880), Almost, Boosey & Co.; Melbourne: Nicholson & Ascherberg, retrieved 10 May 2017

Books

• R. E. Francillon (1871), Earl's Dene: a novel, New York: Harper & Brothers
• R. E. Francillon (1877), Rare Good Luck: a fortune in seven strokes, New York: D. Appleton & Co.
• R. E. Francillon (1886), Golden Bells: a peal in seven changes, New York: Harper & Brothers
• R. E. Francillon (1888), A Christmas Rose: a blossom in seven petals, New York: Harper & Brothers
• R. E. Francillon (1893), Ropes of Sand: a novel, London: Chatto & Windus
• R. E. Francillon (1894), Jack Doyle's Daughter, Chatto & Windus
• R. E. Francillon (1900), Mid-Victorian Memories, London: Hodder

References

1. Charles Dudley Warner, ed. (1902) [1896]. "Francillon, Robert Edward". Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern. Vol. 29. New York: J. A. Hill & Company. p. 199. An English novelist; born at Gloucester, 1841. Among his novels are: 'Pearl and Emerald' (1872); 'Queen Cophetua' (1880); 'King or Knave' (1888). He wrote also many Christmas stories, as 'Streaked with Gold'; 'Rare Good Luck'; 'In the Dark'; and the cantatas 'The Rose Maiden' and 'The Corsair.' He delights in realistic descriptions of scenes of adventure.
2. "Recent Publications". The Advertiser (Adelaide) . South Australia. 13 April 1929. p. 20. Retrieved 10 May 2017– via National Library of Australia.
3. John Sutherland's Longman Companion to Victorian Fiction (1988), quoted in XIX Century Fiction, Part I, A–K (Jarndyce, Bloomsbury, 2019).
4. Gentleman's Magazine, vol. 17, October 1876, pp. 411–413. Reprinted in Bloom's Classical Critical Views. George Eliot, ed. Harold Bloom, 2009 ISBN   978-1-6041-3433-9. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
5. "Religious News". Evening Journal (Adelaide) . Vol. XXII, no. 6305. South Australia. 28 November 1890. p. 2. Retrieved 10 May 2017– via National Library of Australia.
6. "Musical Notes". Evening Journal (Adelaide) . Vol. XXXI, no. 8839. South Australia. 1 April 1899. p. 5. Retrieved 11 May 2017– via National Library of Australia.
7. "Advertising". Adelaide Observer . Vol. XXXII, no. 1744. South Australia. 6 March 1875. p. 3. Retrieved 10 May 2017– via National Library of Australia.
8. "A Queen of Trumps". Hamilton Spectator . No. 2968. Victoria, Australia. 18 October 1879. p. 1. Retrieved 10 May 2017– via National Library of Australia.
9. "New Tale for the "Observer"". Evening Journal (Adelaide) . Vol. XI, no. 3335. South Australia. 17 December 1879. p. 2. Retrieved 10 May 2017– via National Library of Australia.
10. "A Bad Bargain". Bendigo Advertiser . Vol. XXXIX., no. 8, 478. Victoria, Australia. 9 September 1882. p. 1 (Supplement to The Bendigo Advertiser). Retrieved 10 May 2017– via National Library of Australia.
11. "Esther's Glove". Hamilton Spectator . No. 3532. Victoria, Australia. 16 June 1883. p. 1. Retrieved 10 May 2017– via National Library of Australia.
12. "New Tale for the "Evening Journal"". Evening Journal (Adelaide) . Vol. XX, no. 5840. South Australia. 13 March 1888. p. 2. Retrieved 10 May 2017– via National Library of Australia.
13. "The Way of the Wind". The Mount Barker Courier and Onkaparinga and Gumeracha Advertiser . Vol. 8, no. 402. South Australia. 15 June 1888. p. 4. Retrieved 10 May 2017– via National Library of Australia.
14. "Our Short Story". The West Australian . Vol. 8, no. 2, 021. Western Australia. 30 July 1892. p. 6. Retrieved 11 May 2017– via National Library of Australia.
15. "Short Stories by Well-Known Authors". Bendigo Advertiser . Vol. XLI, no. 11, 816. Victoria, Australia. 11 March 1893. p. 2. Retrieved 11 May 2017– via National Library of Australia.
16. "Complete Story". The Week . Vol. LII, no. 1, 347. Queensland, Australia. 18 October 1901. p. 34. Retrieved 10 May 2017– via National Library of Australia.
17. "The Luck of Luke Parris". The Telegraph (Brisbane) . No. 9, 195. Queensland, Australia. 10 May 1902. p. 13. Retrieved 10 May 2017– via National Library of Australia.
18. "Veni, Vidi, Vici". Freeman's Journal . Vol. LIII, no. 3334. New South Wales, Australia. 29 November 1902. p. 4. Retrieved 10 May 2017– via National Library of Australia.
19. "A Learned Lady". Hamilton Spectator . No. 7037. Victoria, Australia. 10 March 1906. p. 1. Retrieved 10 May 2017– via National Library of Australia.
20. "Our Complete Story". Evening Journal (Adelaide) . Vol. XL, no. 10997. South Australia. 12 May 1906. p. 4. Retrieved 10 May 2017– via National Library of Australia.
21. "Double Sixes". The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser . Vol. LXXXII, no. 2348. New South Wales, Australia. 7 November 1906. p. 1195. Retrieved 10 May 2017– via National Library of Australia.
22. "Short Story". Evening Journal (Adelaide) . Vol. XLII, no. 11774. South Australia. 12 December 1908. p. 2. Retrieved 10 May 2017– via National Library of Australia.
23. "Owen Murtagh's Girl". Weekly Times . No. 2, 331. Victoria, Australia. 11 April 1914. p. 6. Retrieved 10 May 2017– via National Library of Australia.
24. "Story". The Northern Champion . Vol. 15, no. 1589. New South Wales, Australia. 21 April 1928. p. 7. Retrieved 10 May 2017– via National Library of Australia.
25. "Concerts". The Athenaeum . No. 2516. 15 January 1876. p. 99.

External links

Media related to Robert Edward Francillon at Wikimedia Commons