Author: Bulwer, Edward Lytton
Biography:
BULWER, Edward Lytton, later Lytton, Edward Bulwer (1803-73: ODNB)
Christened Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer, he was descended from two ancient families. His father, William Earle Bulwer, pursued a military career and held the rank of General when he died at the age of 40 in 1807. His mother, Elizabeth (Lytton) Bulwer, changed her surname to Bulwer Lytton when she inherited her family's fortune; when she died in 1843, her youngest son followed suit and thus became Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer Lytton. In 1866 he became the first Baron Lytton. But throughout the period with which we are concerned, he published as Bulwer. He is said to have started writing verse when he was seven. His first volume of poetry was published (at his mother's expense) before he went up to Cambridge; others appeared before he graduated in 1827. By marrying Rosina Wheeler later that year against his mother's wishes, he sacrificed the financial support she had always provided. The couple had two children, but they were increasingly unhappy in their marriage. Their daughter died of typhus at 19, leaving one legitimate son and at least three illegitimate children. When Bulwer lost the financial support of his mother, he turned to writing--fiction, reviews, non-fiction, and poetry--and soon became the most popular novelist of his day. He served several terms as an MP, standing at first as an independent radical, later as a tory, and rose to be Secretary of State for the Colonies in 1858-9. He and his mother were reconciled, but differences between husband and wife led to an acrimonious separation. He died at Torquay and was buried in Westminster Abbey. (ODNB 4 Jan. 2018) HJ
Other Names:
- E. G. L. B.
- E. G. Lytton Bulwer
- Edward George Lytton Bulwer
- E.G. Lytton Bulwer