A noted playwright and journalist, born at Sunderland; was elected to a Fellowship at Cambridge, for two years filled the chair of English Literature at University College, London; in 1845 was called to the bar, but shortly afterwards took to journalism, writing leaders for the Morning Chronicle and Daily News; during 1850-1872 held secretarial appointments to the Board of Health and in the Local Government Act Office; succeeded Shirley Brooks as editor of Punch in 1874; was throughout his life a prolific writer and adapter of plays, staging upwards of 100 pieces, of which the best known are "To Parents and Guardians," "Still Waters Run Deep," "Our American Cousin," "Ticket-of-Leave Man," etc. (1817-1880).