A Chronology of William Harrison Ainsworth, Life and Works
| 1805 | William Harrison Ainsworth was born in Manchester, February 4. |
| 1817 | A solicitor's son, he entered the Manchester Free Grammar School at age twelve in March with a view to studying law. |
| 1820 | Began writing plays. |
| 1821 | First appearance in print: The Rivals, A Serio-Comic Tragedy, published under the pseudonym "T. Hall" in the Pocket Magazine. |
| 1822 | Leaves the Grammar School. Begins the study of law. Dedicates his first book, pseudonymously published, to essayist Charles Lamb (1775-1834): The Maid's Revenge; and A Summer's Evening Tale; with Other Poems "By Cheviot Ticheburn." |
| 1824 | After the death of his father, he left Manchester for London to study law with Mr. Jacob Phillips. |
| 1826 | Admitted as a qualified solicitor. Publication of his first novel, Sir John Chiverton (in collaboration with J. P. Aston). Married Anne Frances ("Fanny") Ebers, a publisher's daughter, on October 11. |
| 1827 | Birth of his first child, Fanny. |
| 1828 | Edits and contributes pieces to The Keepsake, and produces his own Christmas annual for children, The Christmas Box. |
| 1829 | Birth of his second child, Emily. |
| 1830 | Having abandoned publishing, he began the practice of law. Birth of his third child, Anne Blanche. He then began his association with the new Fraser's Magazine. |
| 1834 | Published first significant novel, Rookwood, an instant success; like six other Ainsworth novels, this was illustrated by George Cruikshank. The tale of highwayman Dick Turpin was so successful that Dickens alluded to it in Sketches by Boz (August 1836 through June 1839). |
| 1835 | Separation from his wife. |
| 1836 | Probably through John Macrone (1809-37), then editor of Bentley's Miscellany, Ainsworth met Charles Dickens. Ainsworth introduced the younger writer to Count d'Orsay, novelist Sir Edward G. D. Bulwer-Lytton, artist Daniel Maclise, dramatist Thomas N. Talford, and journalist John Forster. For the next four years Forster, Dickens, and Ainsworth were much in company, especially at dinners which Ainsworth hosted at Kensal Lodge. |
| 1837 | Published his second important novel, Crichton. |
| 1838 | Death of his wife, March 6. |
| 1839 | Ainsworth published his best-seller, the Newgate novel Jack Sheppard (January 1839 through February 1840), again illustrated by George Cruikshank. Ainsworth's hero, a housebreaker, jail-breaker, and womanizer, was much admired among the general public for his daring. In March, Ainsworth became editor of Bentley's Miscellany. |
| 1840 | Published The Tower of London, illustrated by Cruikshank; began serial publication of Guy Fawkes in January. |
| 1841 | Guy Fawkes appeared in volume form. He published Old Saint Paul's in volume. In December, he resigned the editorship of Bentley's Miscellany in December. |
| 1842 | Inception of Ainsworth's Magazine, February. Published The Miser's Daughter, illustrated once again by Cruikshank. Began serial publication of Windsor Castle, based on the legend of Herne the Hunter. |
| 1843 | Published Windsor Castle in volume form. |
| 1844 | Saint James's. Began serial publication of Auriol; Or, The Elixir of Life, originally under the title Revelations of London in Ainsworth's Magazine, from October 1844 through May 1845, in eight monthly instalments, with fifteen steel engravings by "Phiz" (Hablot Knight Browne). |
| 1845 | Purchased the New Monthly Magazine, in June, and edited it. |
| 1847 | Serial publication of James the Second. |
| 1848 | James the Second appeared in volume form. Serial publication of The Lancashire Witches began. |
| 1849 | The Lancashire Witches appeared in volume form. |
| 1850 | The belated volume edition publication of Auriol; Or, The Elixir of Life under the Chapman and Hall imprint. |
| 1851 | Begins publication in parts of The Life and Adventures of Mervyn Clitheroe. |
| 1853 | Serial publication of The Star-Chamber. Moves from London. The serial publication of The Flitch of Bacon began. |
| 1854 | Volume editions of The Star-Chamber and The Flitch of Bacon. Purchased Bentley's Miscellany. Ainsworth's Magazine ceased publication. At this time, Ainsworth moved to Brighton. |
| 1855 | The serial publication of The Spendthrift began. Ballads, illustrated by Sir John Gilbert, published. |
| 1857 | Volume edition of The Spendthrift published. |
| 1858 | Volume edition of Mervyn Clitheroe. |
| 1859 | The Combat of the Thirty, a translation of a French ballad. Began serial publication of Ovingdean Grange. |
| 1860 | Ovingdean Grange: A Tale of the South Downs appeared in volume form, illustrated by Phiz. |
| 1861 | The Constable of the Tower, illustrated by Sir John Gilbert. |
| 1862 | The Lord Mayor of London. The serial publication of Cardinal Pole began. |
| 1863 | Cardinal Pole appeared in volume form. The serial publication of John Law began. Six weeks' tour of Switzerland and the Italian lakes. |
| 1864 | The volume edition of John Law. The serial publication of The Spanish Match as The House of Seven Chimneys began. |
| 1865 | Volume editions of The Spanish Match and another of Auriol. The serial publication of The Constable de Bourbon began. |
| 1866 | Volume edition of The Constable de Bourbon. The serial publication of Old Court began. |
| 1867 | Volume edition of Old Court. Begins serial publication of Myddleton Pomfret. |
| 1868 | Volume edition of Myddleton Pomfret. He sells Bentley's Miscellany back to Bentley. Serial publication of The South-Sea Bubble. Bentley's Miscellany, just sold back to Bentley, ends, incorporated with Temple Bar, founded in 1860. |
| 1869 | Serial publication of Hilary St. Ives. |
| 1870 | Volume edition of Hilary St. Ives. Serial publication of Talbot Harland. Resigns editorship of New Monthly Magazine. |
| 1871 | Tower Hill. Volume editions of The South-Sea Bubble and Talbot Harland with illustrations by Frederick Gilbert. |
| 1872 | Boscobel. |
| 1873 | The Good Old Times, re-entitled The Manchester Rebels of the Fatal '45 in subsequent editions. |
| 1874 | Merry England. Serial publication of The Goldsmith's Wife. |
| 1875 | Volume editions of The Goldsmith's Wife and Preston Fight; or, The Insurrection of 1715 (Tinsley and Tauchnitz concurrently). |
| 1876 | The Leaguer of Lathom and Chetwynd Calverley. |
| 1877 | The Full of Somerset. |
| 1878 | Beatrice Tyldesley. |
| 1879 | Beau Nash; or, Bath in the Eighteenth Century (his penultimate historical novel), published under the George Routledge imprint. |
| 1881 | Stanley Brereton in three volumes, his final novel, serialised in The Bolton Weekly Journal. The first volume contains the author's own account of the testimonial banquet honouring him at the Manchester Town Hall on September 15 of that year. |
| 1882 | William Harrison Ainsworth dies at Reigate, January 3rd. He is buried at Kensal Green Cemetery, London. |
Bibliography
Ainsworth, William Harrison. Revelations of London. Ainsworth's Magazine: A Miscellany of Romance. London: John Mortimer, 1844-45 (Vols. VII & VIII).
Ainsworth, William Harrison. Auriol; or, The Elixir of Life. London: George Routledge and Sons, 1845, rpt. 1865.
Carver, Stephen. The Life and Works of the Lancashire Novelist William Harrison Ainsworth, 1805–1882. Lewiston: Edwin Mellen Press, 2003.
Ellis, S. M. William Harrison Ainsworth and His Friends. Vol. II. London: Garland Publishing, 1979.
Jacobs, Edward, and Manuela Mourao. "William Harrison Ainsworth: A Brief Chronology." Ainsworth's Jack Sheppard. Peterborough, On.: Broadview, 2007. Pp. 39-42.
Lester, Valerie Browne. Phiz: The Man Who Drew Dickens. London: Chatto and Windus, 2004.
Steig, Michael. Dickens and Phiz. Bloomington & London: Indiana U. P., 1978.
Vanden Bossche, Chris. Reform Acts: Chartism, Social Agency, and the Victorian Novel, 1832-1867. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 2014. [Review by Andrzej Diniejko].
Worth, George J. William Harrison Ainsworth. New York: Twayne, 1972.
Available texts
The Broadview Literary Texts Series: Lady Audley's Secret (2003) and Jack Sheppard (2007) [Review]
Created 12 December 2000
Last modified 20 September 2026