Robert Edward Francillon (1841–1919) was an English journalist and author. He was active in the later decades of the 19th century, and rose to be managing editor of The Globe.
Life and career Born in Gloucester, Francillon trained as a barrister but turned to journalism. He was at various times a contributor to Blackwood's Magazine and an editor of Tatler. He contributed for many years to the Christmas numbers of The Gentleman's Magazine, and sold many short stories to newspapers. (Most of those that were published in Australia can be read online thanks to the Trove service of the National Library of Australia.) His novel Jack Doyle's Daughter lets a Lincolnshire gentleman loose in Bohemian London. It has been called an "incoherent" tale involving an "heiress with six possible fathers".John Sutherland's Longman Companion to Victorian Fiction (1988), quoted in XIX Century Fiction, Part I, A–K (Jarndyce, Bloomsbury, 2019).
Francillon's review "George Eliot's First Romance (1876)" defends Daniel Deronda from early critics. He notes that as a romance, it differs in kind from Adam Bede or Middlemarch: "It lies so far outside George Eliot's other works in every important respect as to make direct comparison impossible."Gentleman's Magazine, vol. 17, October 1876, pp. 411–413. Reprinted in Bloom's Classical Critical Views. George Eliot, ed. Harold Bloom, 2009 . Retrieved 12 December 2019.
In 1890, Francillon was reported to be the managing editor of the London newspaper The Globe.
Along with Swinburne, Francillon belonged to Thomas Purnell's literary club "Decemviri", and was an early member of the neo-Jacobite body known as the Order of the White Rose. Francillon married a daughter of the composer John Barnett, who was also a goddaughter of Franz Liszt.
Some works by Francillon Short stories and novelettes, published in Australian newspapers Olympia A Queen of Trumps Queen Cophetua A Bad Bargain Esther's Glove The Seal of the Snake The Way of the Wind, first published in the London Almanac in 1888 Golden Rod No Conjuror Fad and Her Fetish The Luck of Luke Parris Veni, Vidi, Vici A Learned Lady Silver and Gold Double Sixes M or N Owen Murtagh's Girl An Obstinate Blockhead Songs
Books
R. E. Francillon (1894), Gods and Heroes; or, The Kingdom of Jupiter, Ginn and Company
References
External links