Anthony Trollope

In Short

Thomas Hay Sweet Escott presents a thorough biographical study of Anthony Trollope, tracing his growth from a neglected schoolboy and struggling civil servant into one of the most prolific and popular novelists of the Victorian era. The book follows Trollope’s life through his long career in the Post Office, his wide travels across Ireland, America, and Australia, and his entry into London's literary circles. Escott analyzes Trollope’s extensive literary output, detailing how his administrative work, social connections, and intense daily writing habits shaped iconic works like the Barchester series and parliamentary political novels, leaving a lasting legacy of realistic fiction.

The Story

The volume traces Anthony Trollope’s life from his difficult youth through his rise as a central figure in Victorian letters. Escott begins with Trollope’s early days at Winchester and Harrow, marked by family financial instability and a lack of clear direction. After his family settles temporarily in Bruges, Trollope secures a clerkship at the General Post Office in London in 1834 through family connections and official influence. His early years as a clerk are marred by unpunctuality, financial strain, and official reprimands from his superiors, such as Colonel Maberly.

A turning point arrives in 1841 when Trollope accepts a transfer to Ireland as a postal surveyor’s clerk. Thrown upon his own resources, he gains worldly wisdom, improves his habits, and discovers a deep interest in the people and politics around him. In Ireland, he begins his career as a novelist with The Macdermots of Ballycloran, combining realistic observations of Irish peasant life with tragic narrative lines. Though his first efforts meet with limited commercial success, his regular travels across the Irish countryside and later through rural England give him a deep understanding of local societies, church politics, and English manners.

This background culminates in the mid-1850s with the creation of the Barchester series, starting with The Warden and Barchester Towers. Trollope settles into a highly disciplined writing routine, producing a fixed quantity of words each day before starting his official duties. Escott examines how Trollope’s growing success opens the doors to London’s top literary and social circles. He joins the Garrick Club, forms friendships with key figures like William Makepeace Thackeray and Sir John Everett Millais, and takes an active role in the publishing world, including contributing to the Cornhill Magazine and editing The Fortnightly Review.

Alongside his novels, Trollope remains an active public servant, traveling on Post Office missions to the West Indies, Egypt, and the United States, which yield travel books as well as new settings for his fiction. He eventually leaves the Post Office to stand for Parliament at Beverley, an expensive and unsuccessful political venture that nonetheless provides rich material for his Plantagenet Palliser political novels, such as Phineas Finn and The Prime Minister.

In his later years, Trollope continues his relentless writing pace, producing works like The Eustace Diamonds, John Caldigate, and his final, somber Irish novel, The Land Leaguers. Escott tracks the author through his final years, marked by bouts of private melancholy despite his public success and financial security, closing with his death in 1882 and his burial at Kensal Green.

How It Unfolds

The troubled start Young Anthony wanders through Winchester and Harrow without distinction, facing a chaotic home life as his family retreats to Bruges. He considers entering the Austrian cavalry before securing a Post Office clerkship in London in 1834.

The Irish turning point Transferring to Ireland in 1841, Trollope leaves behind his unpunctual habits, gains self-reliance, and writes his early novels, The Macdermots of Ballycloran and The Kellys and the O’Kellys, while exploring the countryside.

The Barsetshire success Inspired by his direct observation of cathedral towns and local clergy, Trollope writes The Warden and Barchester Towers, establishing his reputation for light-comedy narrative and sharp social realism.

Literary and official expansion Balancing his postal duties with creative work, Trollope travels to the West Indies and America, joins the Garrick Club, connects with Thackeray and Millais, and writes major novels for the Cornhill Magazine.

Political ambitions and later works After resigning from the Post Office, Trollope runs unsuccessfully for Parliament at Beverley, translating the experience into his parliamentary series before closing his career with travel books and late novels like The Land Leaguers.

The People

• Anthony Trollope: The central figure, who grows from an untidy, unpunctual clerk into a disciplined, highly successful author and senior postal official. He wants professional independence and literary success, facing initial official disapproval and self-doubt, but ultimately builds a vast body of work through strict personal routine.
• Frances Trollope: Anthony’s energetic mother, who struggles against financial ruin to keep her home together and secure employment for her sons through her literary income and influential connections.
• Colonel Maberly: The head of the Post Office during Trollope’s early years, whose stern oversight and frequent wrath highlight Trollope's initial lack of administrative method before his transfer to Ireland.
• William Makepeace Thackeray: A dominant literary figure and early mentor to Trollope, whose friendship brings Trollope into the Cornhill Magazine and the center of London’s Garrick Club set.
• Sir Francis Freeling and Mrs. Clayton Freeling: Family friends and official sponsors who use their position at St. Martin’s-le-Grand to secure young Trollope his first government clerkship.

In Its Own Voice

"Subject to an examination in European languages, he contrived to secure the promise of a cavalry commission in the Austrian army."

Escott notes how close Trollope came to a completely different military career before entering the Civil Service.

"To place himself in the way of picking up the necessary acquaintance with continental tongues, he became for a few weeks an usher in a Belgian school."

This early teaching stint in Belgium served as a brief interlude during his family's residence in Bruges.

"A spruce and finished official in his youth he never indeed became; but, on landing at Dublin in the September of 1841, he had outgrown the unpunctuality, the want of method, and the gaucheries which so often opened against him the vials of Colonel Maberly’s wrath."

Escott outlines the personal transformation that occurred when Trollope took up his new post in Ireland.

What It's Really About

The book examines how daily discipline, personal observation, and direct experience shape literary creation. Escott explores the intersection between public administration and creative work, arguing that Trollope's success as a novelist grew out of his practical work for the Post Office rather than despite it. The biography also investigates the mechanics of Victorian publishing, showing how authorial earnings, magazine serialization, and club life defined a writer's standing. Underneath the success story lies an exploration of Trollope's complex personality—his persistent, unexplained bouts of melancholy despite his wealth and fame, and his lifelong drive to turn real-world political, social, and legal observation into enduring fiction.

Why Read It Today

This biography appeals to readers interested in the working habits of Victorian writers and the history of 19th-century publishing. Escott writes as a contemporary and personal acquaintance of Trollope, offering a clear-eyed account that avoids romanticizing the author's early failures or exaggerating his genius. The book provides detailed context for Trollope’s major works, showing how specific travels, official assignments, and political bids directly influenced novels like Phineas Finn or The Eustace Diamonds.

Readers should expect a detailed, historically dense narrative filled with references to Victorian politicians, minor authors, publishing figures, and period controversies. Escott assumes familiarity with 19th-century public life, frequently citing contemporary figures alongside Trollope's fictional characters. Rather than presenting a simple dramatic narrative, the text blends biography with literary criticism and publishing history, including explicit figures on book sales and contract values. It remains a valuable resource for understanding how a key Victorian novelist organized his life, earned his living, and transformed everyday British life into literature.