Charles Whistler
Encyclopedia
The Reverend Charles Watts Whistler MRCS, LSA, (November 14, 1856 - June 10, 1913) was a writer of historic fiction that plays between 600 and 1100 AD, usually based on early English
/Saxon
chronicle
s, Norse
or Danish
Sagas and archeological discoveries.
and his brother the glass engraver Sir Laurence Whistler
and he was also more distantly related to the Irish branch of the Whistler family (emigrated in the 17th century) whose most famous descendant was the Anglo American artist James McNeill Whistler
.
Charles Watts Whistler was educated at Merchant Taylors School, London
and Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He studied medicine at St Thomas's Hospital, London, and was a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons
and a Licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries. After practising as a surgeon (which had been the profession of his maternal grandfather, James Watts, MRCS, of Battle, Sussex), he was ordained deacon in 1884 and priest in 1885. He then served as a clergyman in a succession of parishes: curate of Woolton, Liverpool 1884-1885; Chaplain of the Fishermen's chapel, Hastings 1885-1888, Vicar of Theddlethorpe All Saints, Lincolnshire, 1888- 1894, Rector of Elton, Hunts, 1894-1895 (his father's old parish), Vicar of Stockland-Bristol, Somerset 1895-1909 and, finally, Rector of Cheselbourne, Dorset 1909-1913.
He married, 3 March 1886, Georgiana Rosalie Shapter Strange, daughter of William James Stevenson Strange, master wool-dyer, by then retired.
(His brother Alfred James Whistler married Georgiana's sister Mary Maud Strange. The two women's brother, W.R.P.Strange, had been Vicar of Stockland prior to C.W.Whistler.)
Whistler was interested in the history of England before the Norman Conquest and this is reflected in the subject matter of his prolific work as a historical novelist. His works were popular in their day, but the archaism of the language he adopted makes them less accessible to a modern readership.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
/Saxon
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
chronicle
Chronicle
Generally a chronicle is a historical account of facts and events ranged in chronological order, as in a time line. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, the purpose being the recording of events that occurred, seen from the perspective of the...
s, Norse
Norse saga
The sagas are stories about ancient Scandinavian and Germanic history, about early Viking voyages, the battles that took place during the voyages, about migration to Iceland and of feuds between Icelandic families...
or Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
Sagas and archeological discoveries.
Life
Charles Watts Whistler was the oldest son of the Rev. Rose Fuller Whistler, who was Vicar of Ashburnham in Sussex and a Vice President of the Sussex Archaeological Society and, later, Rector of Elton, Hunts (to which cure Charles Watts Whistler succeeded, below). He was descended from the Sussex branch of the old Thames Valley family of Whistler, from which descended, also, Rex WhistlerRex Whistler
Reginald John 'Rex' Whistler was a British artist, designer and illustrator.-Biography:Rex Whistler was born in Eltham, Kent, the son of Henry and Helen Frances Mary Whistler...
and his brother the glass engraver Sir Laurence Whistler
Laurence Whistler
Sir Alan Charles Laurence Whistler, CBE was a British poet and artist who devoted himself to glass engraving, on goblets and bowls blown to his own designs, and on large-scale panels and windows in churches and private houses...
and he was also more distantly related to the Irish branch of the Whistler family (emigrated in the 17th century) whose most famous descendant was the Anglo American artist James McNeill Whistler
James McNeill Whistler
James Abbott McNeill Whistler was an American-born, British-based artist. Averse to sentimentality and moral allusion in painting, he was a leading proponent of the credo "art for art's sake". His famous signature for his paintings was in the shape of a stylized butterfly possessing a long stinger...
.
Charles Watts Whistler was educated at Merchant Taylors School, London
Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood
Merchant Taylors' School is a British independent day school for boys, originally located in the City of London. Since 1933 it has been located at Sandy Lodge in the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire ....
and Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He studied medicine at St Thomas's Hospital, London, and was a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons
Royal College of Surgeons of England
The Royal College of Surgeons of England is an independent professional body and registered charity committed to promoting and advancing the highest standards of surgical care for patients, regulating surgery, including dentistry, in England and Wales...
and a Licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries. After practising as a surgeon (which had been the profession of his maternal grandfather, James Watts, MRCS, of Battle, Sussex), he was ordained deacon in 1884 and priest in 1885. He then served as a clergyman in a succession of parishes: curate of Woolton, Liverpool 1884-1885; Chaplain of the Fishermen's chapel, Hastings 1885-1888, Vicar of Theddlethorpe All Saints, Lincolnshire, 1888- 1894, Rector of Elton, Hunts, 1894-1895 (his father's old parish), Vicar of Stockland-Bristol, Somerset 1895-1909 and, finally, Rector of Cheselbourne, Dorset 1909-1913.
He married, 3 March 1886, Georgiana Rosalie Shapter Strange, daughter of William James Stevenson Strange, master wool-dyer, by then retired.
(His brother Alfred James Whistler married Georgiana's sister Mary Maud Strange. The two women's brother, W.R.P.Strange, had been Vicar of Stockland prior to C.W.Whistler.)
Whistler was interested in the history of England before the Norman Conquest and this is reflected in the subject matter of his prolific work as a historical novelist. His works were popular in their day, but the archaism of the language he adopted makes them less accessible to a modern readership.
Works
- A Thane of Wessex (1896)
- Wulfric the Weapon Thane (1897)
- King Olaf’s Kinsman (1898) A Story of the Last Saxon Struggle against the Danes in the Days of IronsideIronside-Entertainment and literature:*Ironside , an American television series starring Raymond Burr*Ironside: A Modern Faery's Tale, an urban fantasy novel by Holly Black-People:...
and Cnut (set circa 1000 AD) - King Alfred’s Viking (1899) A Story of the First English Fleet
- Havelok the DaneHavelok the DaneHavelok the Dane, also known as Havelok or Lay of Havelok the Dane, is a Middle English romance considered to be part of the Matter of England. The story, however, is also known in two earlier Anglo-Norman versions. Most scholars place Havelok the Dane at the end of the thirteenth century, between...
(1900) A Legend of Old GrimsbyGrimsbyGrimsby is a seaport on the Humber Estuary in Lincolnshire, England. It has been the administrative centre of the unitary authority area of North East Lincolnshire since 1996...
and LincolnLincoln, LincolnshireLincoln is a cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England.The non-metropolitan district of Lincoln has a population of 85,595; the 2001 census gave the entire area of Lincoln a population of 120,779....
(set circa 580 AD) - For King or Empress? (1903)
- A Prince of Cornwall (1904) A Story of GlastonburyGlastonburyGlastonbury is a small town in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,784 in the 2001 census...
and the West in the Days of Ina of Wessex (set 690-710 AD) - A King’s Comrade (1905) A Story of Old HerefordHerefordHereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, southwest of Worcester, and northwest of Gloucester...
(set ca. 790 AD) - Gerald the Sheriff (1906)
- A Sea Queen Sailing (1906) (set ca. 935 AD)
- A Prince Errant (1908)
- Early Wars of Wessex (1913)
- Dragon Osmund (1914)
- A Son of Odin (1914)
Summaries
-
- "Havelok" plays around 580 to 600 AD in DenmarkDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, one or two generations after mythical King ArthurKing ArthurKing Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
(and his people's struggle with the Saxons) and shows early relations between the Danes and Saxons (now well-established in England with their own kingdoms) and the already Christianized WelshWelsh peopleThe Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
in England. Also introduces dislike between Danes/JutesJutesThe Jutes, Iuti, or Iutæ were a Germanic people who, according to Bede, were one of the three most powerful Germanic peoples of their time, the other two being the Saxons and the Angles...
(cousins of the Saxons, BTW) and the Norse. Based one of the (until the Elizabethan Age) most popular Medieval sagas of the British Isles that has a lot of traits of the classic nordic sagas.\ - "Prince of CornwallCornwallCornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
" takes place about a hundred years or four generations later—ca. 690-710 AD, and deals much with the relations between Welsh and Saxons, feat. some resident Danes in the country.\ - "King's Comrade" is again three generations later, ca. 790 AD. Mainly focused on inter-Saxon conflict (King Ethelbert, King Offa), and problems with the Welsh (who still would like to get their lost estates back...). Introduces Norse campaigns on the Frankish coast (founding the Norse state of NormandyNormandyNormandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
). - "WulfricWulfricWulfric is an Anglo-Saxon male name, meaning "wolf power" or "wolf ruler".-Historical mentions:*Wulfric Spot, Earl of Mercia and Chief Councillor of State to King Ethelred; b., d. 12 October 1010. Founder of Burton Abbey, to which he bequeathed land and money in his will of c. 1002-4 .*Wulfric of...
the Weapon Thane" shows how the Danes invade the English realm and found kingdoms, turning from fun-loving plunderers to competitive conquerors. - "ThaneThegnThe term thegn , from OE þegn, ðegn "servant, attendant, retainer", is commonly used to describe either an aristocratic retainer of a king or nobleman in Anglo-Saxon England, or as a class term, the majority of the aristocracy below the ranks of ealdormen and high-reeves...
of WessexWessexThe Kingdom of Wessex or Kingdom of the West Saxons was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons, in South West England, from the 6th century, until the emergence of a united English state in the 10th century, under the Wessex dynasty. It was to be an earldom after Canute the Great's conquest...
" takes place shortly before King Alfred's rule. The hero is robbed of land and title through bitter intrigues, and banned from the realm. But as he tries to leave the kingdom, he's followed by pursuers who are after his life. Soon Whistler adds one or two tasty conflicts of interest, and we've got a man in a mess—how to do the right thing if you are right-less and without honor in the eyes of your former peers? - "King Alfred's VikingVikingThe term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
" tells more of the Battles between the English (united at last) and the Danes, and is the story of the first navyNavyA navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...
of England, built by Alfred with a little help from Norse friends." - ca. 935 AD: A Sea Queen's Sailing (1906)
- ca. 1000 AD: King Olaf's Kinsman (1896) -- A Story of the Last Saxon Struggle against the Danes in the Days of IronsideIronside-Entertainment and literature:*Ironside , an American television series starring Raymond Burr*Ironside: A Modern Faery's Tale, an urban fantasy novel by Holly Black-People:...
and Cnut
- "Havelok" plays around 580 to 600 AD in Denmark