English novelist, born at Ipsden, in Oxfordshire; studied at Oxford; became a Fellow of Magdalen College, and was called to the bar in 1842; began his literary life by play-writing; studied the art of fiction for 15 years, and first made his mark as novelist in 1852, when he was nearly 40, by the publication of "Peg Woffington," which was followed in 1856 by "It is Never too Late to Mend," and in 1861 by "The Cloister and the Hearth," the last his best and the most popular; several of his later novels are written with a purpose, such as "Hard Cash" and "Foul Play"; his most popular plays are "Masks and Faces" and "Drink" (1814-1884).