Dixon

Dixon, WILLIAM HEPWORTH, an English writer and traveller, was born in Manchester, 30th June 1821, early became a merchant's clerk, but soon determined to devote himself to a literary life. He had already written much, and even edited for two months a Cheltenham paper, when in 1846 he settled in London. In 1854 he was called to the bar, but did not practise. A series of papers, published in the Daily News, on 'The Literature of the Lower Orders,' and another on 'London Prisons,' attracted considerable attention. The latter reappeared in a volume published in 1850. Before this, but in the same year, he published John Howard, and the Prison World of Europe. It was with difficulty he could induce a publisher to accept it, yet when published it went through three editions in one year. Dixon now devoted himself principally to historical biography. In 1851 appeared the first edition of his William Penn, a work called into existence by the onslaught made by Macaulay on the eminent Quaker, in which Dixon undertook, not without success, to disprove the great historian's charges. In 1852 was published his Life of Blake, and in 1860 his Personal History of Lord Bacon, two works which were indeed popular, but failed to satisfy competent critics. From 1853 to 1869 Dixon was editor of the Athenæum. His books of travel, all bright and interesting, include The Holy Land (1865), New America (1867), Free Russia (1870), The White Conquest (1875), and British Cyprus (1879). His Spiritual Wives he issued in 1868. Accused of indecency in his Free Russia, he brought an action for libel against the Pall Mall Gazette, and was awarded a farthing damages. His historical works include Her Majesty's Tower (4 vols. 1869-71), The History of Two Queens (Catharine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn; 4 vols. 1873-74), and Royal Windsor (1878-80). His novels are unimportant. He died suddenly in London, 27th December 1879.