author
Robert Heywood
1786–1868
A Bolton manufacturer, civic leader, and energetic traveler, he left behind lively accounts of journeys to America, Italy, and Russia. His writing offers a grounded, firsthand window into 19th-century travel and public life.
2 Audiobooks
A Journey to America in 1834
by Robert Heywood
A Journey in Russia in 1858
by Robert Heywood
About the author
Born in Bolton in 1786, Robert Heywood was a businessman and philanthropist who became an important local figure in the town’s early civic life. Sources from Bolton describe him as a textile manufacturer and note that he served as Bolton’s second mayor in 1839–40.
He also wrote about his travels, and those journeys are the main reason readers still encounter his name today. His travel narratives include A Journey to America in 1834, A Journey to Italy in 1826, and A Journey in Russia in 1858, works valued for their direct observations and period detail.
Heywood died in Bolton on 27 October 1868. Though not widely known as a literary figure in the modern sense, he remains an appealing author for readers interested in eyewitness travel writing, industrial-era Britain, and the outlook of a thoughtful 19th-century observer.