Reade, Charles

1814 - Charles Reade, born on the 8th of June in Ipsden, Oxfordshire, England. He was an English novelist and dramatist.

1835 - He studied at Magdalen College, Oxford, taking his B.A., and became a fellow of his college.

1836 - His name was entered at Lincoln's Inn.

1842 - He was elected Vinerian Fellow.

1843 - Was called to the bar.

1847 - He was subsequently dean of arts and vice-president, taking his degree of D.C.L.

1851 - His first comedy, The Ladies' Battle, appeared at the Olympic Theatre in May.

1851 - 1853 - Was followed by Angela, A Village Tale, The Lost Husband, and Gold. 

1852 - His reputation was made by the two-act comedy, Masks and Faces, in which he collaborated with Tom Taylor.

1853 - By the advice of the actress, Laura Seymour, he turned the play into a prose story which appeared  as Peg Woffington.

1854 - He produced, in conjunction with Tom Taylor, Two Loves and a Life, and The King's Rival, and, unaided, The Courier of Lyons (well known under its later title, The Lyons Mail) and Peregrine Pickle.

1856 - He made his name as a novelist, when he produced It's Never Too Late to Mend, a novel written with the purpose of reforming abuses in prison discipline and the treatment of criminals.

1857 - 1860 - Five minor novels followed in quick succession,--The Course of True Love never did run Smooth, Jack of all Trades, The Autobiography of a Thief, Love Me Little, Love Me Long, and White Lies, dramatized as The Double Marriage.

1861 - His masterpiece, The Cloister and the Hearth, relating the adventures of the father of Erasmus.

1863 - He next produced another startling novel with a purpose, Hard Cash, in which he drew attention to the abuses of private lunatic asylums.

1869 - 1877 - Three more such novels, followed: Foul Play, in which he exposed the iniquities of ship-knackers, and paved the way for the labours of Samuel Plimsoll; Put Yourself in his Place, in which he dealt with trade unions; and A Woman-Hater, in which he continued his commentary on trade unions while also tackling the topic of women doctors.

1875 - The Wandering Heir, of which he also wrote a version for the stage, was suggested by the Tichborne Case.

1884 - Died on the 11th of April in London, England.