author

Austin Potter

1842–1913

Best known for a forceful 1884 temperance novel, this little-known writer used fiction to dramatize the human cost of alcoholism. His work blends moral urgency with an accessible storytelling style that would have spoken clearly to late 19th-century readers.

1 Audiobook

From Wealth to Poverty; Or, the Tricks of the Traffic. A Story of the Drink Curse

From Wealth to Poverty; Or, the Tricks of the Traffic. A Story of the Drink Curse

by Austin Potter

About the author

Austin Potter (1842–1913) is a little-documented author remembered today for From Wealth to Poverty; Or, the Tricks of the Traffic. A Story of the Drink Curse. Project Gutenberg and library records identify him as Rev. Austin Potter, and the book was published in Toronto in 1884, suggesting a connection to the religious and reform-minded print culture of that period.

His best-known book is a temperance novel centered on the damage alcoholism does to a family, especially through the downfall of Richard Ashton. The story’s themes of addiction, poverty, domestic suffering, and moral struggle place Potter squarely within the 19th-century tradition of fiction written to persuade as well as entertain.

Beyond that work, reliable biographical details about his life remain scarce in the sources I could confirm here. No suitable verified portrait image was found on the pages available during this search, so a profile image is not included.