Victorian literature Victorian literature Victorian literature is literature, mainly written in English, during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901) (the Victorian era). It was preceded by Romanticism and followed by the Edwardian era (1901–1910). While in the preceding Romantic period, poetry had been the dominant genre, it was the novel that was most important in the Victorian period. Charles Dickens (1812–1870) dominated the first part of Victoria's reign: his first novel, "The Pickwick Papers", was published in 1836, and his last "Our Mutual Friend" between 1864–5. William Thackeray's (1811–1863) most famous work "Vanity Fair" appeared in 1848, and the three Brontë sisters,
Ralph Richardson (politician born 1812) Ralph Richardson (politician born 1812) Dr Ralph Richardson (1812–1897/1898) was a Member of the New Zealand Legislative Council. He lived in New Zealand for less than a decade, and retired to Devon in England, and later to London. Richardson was born in Capenhurst, Cheshire, England in 1812. He was educated at Chester Grammar School, at Edinburgh University (from where he graduated MD) and Downing College, Cambridge (from where he graduated MA and became a fellow); Richardson never practised as a doctor. Aged 28, he married Marie Louise Seymour, a daughter of George Turner Seymour of Wraxall, Somerset. They emigrated to