Robert Folkestone Williams

Born in London in the early 19th century, Robert Folkestone Williams trained in surgery under George James Guthrie before deciding that literature suited him better. He went on to build an unusually varied career as a novelist, poet, journalist, historian, biographer, editor, and teacher, writing steadily for many years.

His fiction included domestic and historical novels, and he is especially associated with books such as Shakespeare and His Friends and The Youth of Shakspeare. He also wrote historical and biographical works, including studies of the English cardinals and the court of James I, showing how comfortably he moved between storytelling and factual writing.

Williams also published under the pseudonym Frank Ranelagh. Although he is not a household name today, his work captures the breadth and energy of Victorian literary culture, when one writer could contribute to magazines, publish novels, and produce substantial works of history all within the same career.