Worcester College, Oxford, where he became a famous oarsman, rowing
bow of his College boat; also bow of a famous light-weight University
"four," which swept everything before it in its time. He wound up his
racing career by winning the Diamond Sculls at Henley. From 1853 to
1858 his life was passed in Australia, whence after some variegated
experiences he returned to Chelsea in 1858, bringing back nothing but
good "copy," which he worked into _Geoffry Hamlyn_, his first romance.
_Ravenshoe_ was written in 1861; _Austin Elliot_ in 1863; _The
Hillyars and the Burtons_ in 1865; _Silcote of Silcotes_ in 1867;
_Mademoiselle Mathilde_ (admired by few, but a favorite of mine) in
1868. He was married in 1864, and settled at Wargrave-on-Thames. In
1869 he went north to edit the _Edinburgh Daily Review_, and made a
mess of it; in 1870 he represented that journal as field-correspondent
in the Franco-Prussian War, was present at Sedan, and claimed to have
been the first Englishman to enter Metz. In 1872 he returned to London
and wrote novels in which his powers appeared to deteriorate steadily.
He removed to Cuckfield, in Sussex, and there died in May, 1876.
Hardly a man of letters followed him to the grave, or spoke, in print,
a word in his praise.

And yet, by all accounts, he was a wholly amiable ne'er-do-well--a
wonderful flyfisher, an extremely clever amateur artist, a lover of
horses and dogs and children (surely, if we except a chapter of Victor
Hugo's, the children in _Ravenshoe_ are the most delightful in
fiction), and a joyous companion.

"To us children," writes Mr. Maurice Kingsley, "Uncle Henry's
settling in Eversley was a great event.... At times he fairly
bubbled over with humour; while his knowledge of slang--Burschen,
Bargee, Parisian, Irish, Cockney, and English provincialisms--was