author
Alfred Bate Richards
1820–1876
A restless Victorian man of letters, he moved from the law into journalism and literature, writing dramas, poems, essays, and fiction while taking an active role in public life. He is also remembered as an early editor of the Daily Telegraph and a strong advocate of the mid-19th-century volunteer movement.
1 Audiobook
Cromwell: A Drama, in Five Acts
by Alfred Bate Richards
About the author
Born in Worcestershire in 1820, Alfred Bate Richards was educated at Westminster School and Exeter College, Oxford. Although he was called to the bar, he turned toward writing and public debate instead, building a career that ranged across journalism, poetry, drama, essays, and fiction.
Richards wrote several plays and volumes of verse, and his work reflects the energetic, argumentative spirit of Victorian literary culture. Alongside his creative writing, he became well known in journalism, serving as the first editor of the Daily Telegraph and later working with the Morning Advertiser.
He was also prominent beyond the literary world as an advocate of the volunteer movement in Britain. Richards died in 1876, leaving behind the record of a versatile career that connected literature, newspapers, and public affairs.