charles kingsley

English - English

Definition of charles kingsley in English English dictionary: a British writer of historical novels such as Westward Ho! and Hereward the Wake, who also wrote the children's story The Water Babies (1819-75). born June 12, 1819, Holne Vicarage, Devon, Eng. died Jan. 23, 1875, Eversley, Hampshire English clergyman and novelist. After studies at Cambridge, he became a parish priest and later chaplain to Queen Victoria, professor of modern history at Cambridge, and canon of Westminster. An enthusiastic advocate of Christian socialism, he published several novels about social problems before writing the very successful historical novels Hypatia (1853), Westward Ho! (1855), and Hereward the Wake (1866). Fearing the Anglican church's trend in the direction of Catholicism, he engaged in a famous controversy with John Henry Newman. His wholehearted acceptance of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution inspired his popular children's book The Water-Babies (1863)

charles kingsley