The Reverend Charles Watts Whistler MRCS, LSA, (14 November 1856 – 10 June 1913) was an English writer of historical fiction, who set his work between 600 and 1100 CE, usually based on early

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

chronicle A chronicle (, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events ...

s, Norse or Danish sagas and archaeological discoveries.

Life

Charles Watts Whistler was the oldest son of the Rev. Rose Fuller Whistler, Vicar of Ashburnham in Sussex, a Vice President of the Sussex Archaeological Society, and later Rector of Elton, Huntingdonshire, to which cure Charles Watts Whistler would succeed. The family descended from the Sussex branch of the Thames Valley family of Whistler, as did Rex Whistler and his brother the glass engraver Sir Laurence Whistler. Whistler was educated at Merchant Taylors School, London and Emmanuel College, Cambridge, before studying medicine at St Thomas's Hospital, London, and becoming a member of the

Royal College of Surgeons The Royal College of Surgeons is an ancient college (a form of corporation) established in England to regulate the activity of surgeons. Derivative organisations survive in many present and former members of the Commonwealth. These organisations ...

and a licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries. After practising as a surgeon (like his maternal grandfather James Watts, MRCS, of Battle, Sussex), he was ordained deacon in 1884 and priest in 1885. He then served successively as curate of

Woolton Woolton (; ) is a suburb of Liverpool, in Merseyside, England. It is an area located southeast of the city and bordered by Allerton, Gateacre, Halewood, and Hunt's Cross. At the 2011 Census, the population was 12,921. Overview Originally a ...

, Liverpool (1884–1885), Chaplain of the Fishermen's Chapel,

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

(1885–1888), Vicar of All Saints' Church, Theddlethorpe, Lincolnshire (1888–1894), Rector of

Elton Elton may refer to: Places England * Elton, Cambridgeshire (formerly Huntingdonshire), a village ** Elton Hall, a baronial hall * Elton, Cheshire, a village and civil parish * Elton, County Durham, a village and civil parish in the Borough of ...

, Huntingdonshire (1894–1895), Vicar of Stockland Bristol,

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

(1895–1909), and finally Rector of Cheselbourne,

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

(1909–1913). Whistler was married on 3 March 1886 to Georgiana Rosalie Shapter Strange, daughter of William James Stevenson Strange, a master wool-dyer by then retired. His brother Alfred James Whistler married Georgiana's sister Mary Maud Strange. The two women's brother, W. R. P. Strange, had been Vicar of Stockland before Whistler. Whistler's interest in the history of England before the Norman Conquest appears in his prolific work as a historical novelist. His works were popular in their day, but the archaism of language he adopted makes them less accessible to modern readers.

Works

*''A Thane of Wessex'' (1896) *''Wulfric the Weapon Thane'' (1897) *''King Olaf’s Kinsman'' (1898), a story of the Last Saxon Struggle against the

Danes Danes (, ), or Danish people, are an ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural. History Early history Denmark ...

in the Days of Ironside and

Cnut Cnut ( ; ; – 12 November 1035), also known as Canute and with the epithet the Great, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norway from 1028 until his death in 1035. The three kingdoms united under Cnut's rul ...

(set c. 1000 CE) *''King Alfred's Viking'' (1899), a story of the First English Fleet *'' Havelok the Dane'' (1900), a legend of Old

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town in Lincolnshire, England with a population of 86,138 (as of 2021). It is located near the mouth on the south bank of the Humber that flows to the North Sea. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes dir ...

and Lincoln (set c. 580 CE) *''For King or Empress?'' (1903) *''A Prince of Cornwall'' (1904), a story of

Glastonbury Glastonbury ( , ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury is less than across the River ...

and the West in the Days of Ina of Wessex (set 690-710 CE) *''A King’s Comrade'' (1905), a story of Old

Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...

(set c. 790 CE) *''Gerald the Sheriff'' (1906) *''A Sea Queen Sailing'' (1906, set c. 935 CE) *''A Prince Errant'' (1908) *''Early Wars of Wessex'' (1913) *''Dragon Osmund'' (1914) *''A Son of Odin'' (1914)

Summaries

*''Havelok'' plays around 580–600 CE in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, one or two generations after mythical

King Arthur According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Great Britain, Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Wales, Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a le ...

(and his people's struggle with the Saxons) and shows early relations between the Danes and Saxons (now well-established in England with their own kingdoms) and the already Christianized Welsh in England. It also introduces dislike between the Danes/

Jutes The Jutes ( ) were one of the Germanic people, Germanic tribes who settled in Great Britain after the end of Roman rule in Britain, departure of the Roman Britain, Romans. According to Bede, they were one of the three most powerful Germanic na ...

(cousins of the Saxons) and the Norse. It is based one of the most popular pre-

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The Roman symbol of Britannia (a female per ...

sagas of the British Isles, which shares traits with the classic Nordic sagas. *''Prince of Cornwall'' takes place about a hundred years or four generations later – c. 690–710 CE – and deals much with the relations between Welsh and Saxons, and some resident Danes in the country. *''King's Comrade'' is again three generations later, c. 790 CE. It is mainly focused on inter-Saxon conflict ( King Ethelbert, King Offa), and problems with the Welsh, who still would like to get their lost estates back. Introduces Norse campaigns on the Frankish coast, founding the Norse state of Normandy. *''Wulfric the Weapon Thane'' shows how the Danes invade the English realm and found kingdoms, turning from fun-loving plunderers to competitive conquerors. *''

Thane Thane (; previously known as Thana, List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city located on the northwestern side of the list of Indian states, state of Maharashtra in India and on ...

Wessex The Kingdom of the West Saxons, also known as the Kingdom of Wessex, was an Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, kingdom in the south of Great Britain, from around 519 until Alfred the Great declared himself as King of the Anglo-Saxons in 886. The Anglo-Sa ...

'' takes place shortly before King Alfred's rule. The hero is robbed of land and title through bitter intrigues, and banned from the realm. But as he tries to leave the kingdom, he is followed by pursuers who are after his life. Soon Whistler has one or two tasty conflicts of interest, and we have a man in a mess – how to do the right thing if you have no rights or honour in the eyes of your former peers? *'' King Alfred's

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

'' tells more of the battles between the English (united at last) and the Danes. It tells of the first

navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

of England, built by Alfred with help from Norse friends. *c. 935 CE: ''A Sea Queen's Sailing'' (1906) *c. 1000 CE: ''King Olaf's Kinsman'' (1896) – A Story of the Last Saxon Struggle against the

in the Days of Ironside and

References

Sources

*''Alumni Cantabrigenses'' (Venn) Part II vol 6 p 428 (1954)

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Whistler, Charles Watts 1856 births 1913 deaths People educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood English writers People from Ashburnham, East Sussex