born April 23, 1818, Dartington, Devon, Eng.
died Oct. 20, 1894, Kingsbridge, Devon
English historian and biographer.
He was influenced by the Oxford Movement , which sought a renewal of Roman Catholic practices within the Church of England, but later broke with it. Among his historical works, which display both carelessness and his anti-Catholic bias, the best known is History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Defeat of the Spanish Armada (185670), which fundamentally altered the direction of Tudor studies. Immensely prolific, he was attacked by reviewers but was popular with the reading public. He later produced a biography (188284) of his friend Thomas Carlyle .