author
R. E. (Robert Edward) Francillon
1841–1919
A Victorian journalist-novelist with a busy literary life, he wrote fiction, criticism, and memoir while also helping shape one of London’s newspapers. His work moves easily between popular storytelling and sharp-eyed recollection of 19th-century literary culture.
1 Audiobook
Gods and Heroes; or, The Kingdom of Jupiter
by R. E. (Robert Edward) Francillon
About the author
Born in Gloucester in 1841, Robert Edward Francillon studied at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and was called to the bar at Gray’s Inn in 1864. He is remembered chiefly as an English journalist and author, active across fiction, criticism, poetry, and memoir.
Francillon spent much of his career in journalism and later became managing editor of The Globe. Alongside newspaper work, he wrote for periodicals including All the Year Round, building a reputation as a versatile Victorian man of letters rather than a writer confined to one genre.
He also left behind a valuable personal record of his era in Mid-Victorian Memories, which reflects his closeness to the literary world of the 19th century. Francillon died in 1919, and his varied career still makes him an interesting figure for readers drawn to the overlap of journalism, publishing, and popular fiction.