Benjamin Leopold Farjeon (12 May 1838 – 23 July 1903) was an English novelist, playwright, printer and journalist. As an author, he was known for his huge output.

Life

Farjeon was born in London to Dinah Levy and Jacob Farjeon,

Orthodox Jews Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tr ...

. He was raised in

Whitechapel Whitechapel () is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is the location of Tower Hamlets Town Hall and therefore the borough tow ...

and had no formal secular education. At 14, he entered the office of the ''Nonconformist'', a Christian journal, to learn the printing trade. He broke away from the strict faith of his father and in 1854 emigrated to Australia. During the voyage he was moved from steerage to cabin class because he had produced some numbers of a ship newspaper, the ''Ocean Record''. Farjeon worked as a gold miner in

Victoria (Australia) Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a States and territories of Australia, state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of ; the second-most-populated state (after New South Wales), ...

, started a newspaper, then went to New Zealand in 1861. He settled in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

, working as a journalist on the ''

Otago Daily Times The ''Otago Daily Times'' (''ODT'') is a newspaper published by Allied Press Ltd in Dunedin, New Zealand. The ''ODT'' is one of the country's four main daily newspapers, serving the southern South Island with a circulation of around 26,000 and ...

'', edited by

Julius Vogel Sir Julius Vogel (24 February 1835 – 12 March 1899) was the eighth premier of New Zealand. His administration is best remembered for the issuing of bonds to fund railway construction and other public works. He was the first Jewish prime min ...

, of which he became manager and sub-editor. Farjeon began writing novels and plays, as a self-confessed disciple of

Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by many as the great ...

, whose attention he managed to catch. In his novel ''Grif: A story of Australian life'', for example, he modelled the

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

street Arab Grif on Jo in ''

Bleak House ''Bleak House'' is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, first published as a 20-episode Serial (literature), serial between 12 March 1852 and 12 September 1853. The novel has many characters and several subplots, and is told partly by th ...

''.''XIX Century Fiction'', Part I, A–K (Jarndyce, Bloomsbury, 2019). In 1868, he returned to Britain and lived in London in the

Adelphi Theatre The Adelphi Theatre is a West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster, central London. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiv ...

. Over the next 35 years, Farjeon produced nearly 60 novels. Many of his works were illustrated by his long-time friend

Nicholas Chevalier Nicholas Chevalier (9 May 1828 – 15 March 1902) was a Russian-born artist who worked in Australia and New Zealand. Early life Chevalier was born in St Petersburg, Russia, the son of Louis Chevalier, who came from Vaud, Switzerland, and was ov ...

. Benjamin Farjeon died in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

on 23 July 1903, aged 65.

Family

Farjeon married Margaret Jane "Maggie" Jefferson (1853–1933), daughter of the American actor

Joseph Jefferson Joseph Jefferson III (February 20, 1829 – April 23, 1905), often known as Joe Jefferson, was an American actor. He was the third actor of this name in a family of actors and managers, and one of the most famous 19th century American comedians ...

, on 6 June 1877. Their children included J. Jefferson Farjeon,

Eleanor Farjeon Eleanor Farjeon (13 February 1881 – 5 June 1965) was an English author of children's literature, children's stories and plays, poetry, biography, history and satire. Several of her works had illustrations by Edward Ardizzone. Some of her cor ...

Herbert Farjeon Herbert (Bertie) Farjeon (5 March 1887 – 3 May 1945) was a major figure in the British theatre from 1910 until his death. He was a presenter of revues in London's West End, a theatre critic, lyricist, librettist, playwright, theatre manager and ...

, and

Harry Farjeon Harry Farjeon (6 May 1878 – 29 December 1948) was a British composer and an influential teacher of harmony and composition at the Royal Academy of Music for more than 45 years. Early life and studies Harry Farjeon was born in Hohokus Township, ...

Selected novels

*''Shadows on the Snow: A Christmas Story'' (1865) *''Grif: a Story of Australian Life'' (1870) *''Jessie Trim'' (1870) *''Blade-o'-Grass: A Christmas Story'' (1871) *''Joshua Marvel'' (1871) *''London's Heart'' (1873) *''Bread-and-Cheese and Kisses: A Christmas Story'' (1873) *''Golden Grain'' (1874) *''The King of No-Land'' (1875) *''The Duchess of Rosemary Lane'' (1876) *''An Island Pearl'' (1876) *''At the Sign of the Silver Flagon'' (1880) *''Great Porter Square: A Mystery'' (1884) *''The House of White Shadows'' (1884) *''Love's Harvest ''(1885) *''The Sacred Nugget'' (1885) *''In a Silver Sea'' (1886) *''The Nine of Hearts'' (1886) *''A Secret Inheritance'' (1887) *''The Tragedy of Featherstone'' (1887) *''Devlin the Barber'' (1888) *''Toilers of Babylon'' (1888) *''The Peril of Richard Pardon'' (1888) *''Miser Fairbrother'' (1888) *''The Mystery of M. Felix'' (1890) *''For the Defense'' (1891) *''The Blood White Rose'' (1891) *''The Last Tenant'' (1893) *''Something Occurred'' (1893) *''Aaron the Jew'' (1894) (US title: ''A Fair Jewess'') *''Miriam Rozella'' (1898) *''Samuel Boyd of Catchpole Square: A Mystery'' (1899) *''The Mesmerists'' (1900)

Notes

References

* * * * * * * Additional sources listed by the ''

Dictionary of Australian Biography The ''Dictionary of Australian Biography'', published in 1949, is a reference work by Percival Serle containing information on notable people associated with Australia, Australian History of Australia, history. With approximately a thousand e ...

'': ** Eleanor Farjeon, ''A Nursery in the Nineties'', which gives a charming account of Farjeon's happy married life ** E. Morris Miller, ''Australian Literature'' ** ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 24 July 1903; ''Who's Who'', 1943 ** ''

Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and th ...

External links

Herbert Farjeon archive at the University of Bristol Theatre Collection

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

''Shadows on the Snow: a Christmas story'' at NZetc website
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Farjeon, Benjamin 1838 births 1903 deaths 19th-century English novelists Jewish English writers

Benjamin Benjamin ( ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the younger of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel, and Jacob's twe ...

New Zealand journalists People from Hampstead Writers from the London Borough of Camden Writers from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Writers from Dunedin People from Whitechapel Writers from Victoria (state) English male novelists 19th-century English male writers