author
George Barnett Smith
1841–1909
A busy Victorian man of letters, he moved from Yorkshire to London and built a career in journalism, biography, history, and poetry. His work ranged widely, but he was especially known for lively books on public figures and major events of his day.
1 Audiobook
Victor Hugo: His Life and Work
by George Barnett Smith
About the author
Born in Ovenden, Yorkshire, on 17 May 1841, George Barnett Smith was educated at the British Lancastrian School in Halifax before heading to London as a young man. There he worked in journalism, including on the staffs of the Globe and the Echo, while also contributing literary criticism and essays.
He wrote across several genres and was sometimes published under the pseudonym Guy Roslyn. His books included biographies, historical studies, travel and topical works, poetry, and fiction, showing the range expected of a hardworking 19th-century journalist-author.
Smith died in Bournemouth on 2 January 1909. Though not a household name now, he was a prolific and recognizable literary figure in late Victorian Britain, part of the energetic newspaper and publishing world that connected readers to politics, culture, and public life.