Author: Croly, George
Biography:
Croly, George (1780-1860: ODNB)
Clergyman, novelist, critic. He was born at Dublin but the names of his parents are not known. He entered Trinity College Dublin at the age of fifteen and earned his MA in 1804. Ordained in the Church of Ireland, he was appointed curate to a parish in the north of Ireland. In 1810 he moved to London with his widowed mother and two sisters; there, he became theatre critic for The Times and The New Times. His verse drama, Catiline, was unsuccessful but a comedy, Pride Shall Have a Fall (1824), fared better. Croly was sent to Europe as a foreign correspondent for The Times but returned in 1817 on William Jerdan’s invitation to contribute poetry and criticism to the Literary Gazette. In 1819 he married Margaret Helen Begbie; they likely had seven children (several predeceased their father). From 1820 Croly was a prolific writer for Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, submitting poetry, fiction, and criticism. However, Blackwood declined to publish Croly’s novels—Tales of the Great St Bernard (1828) and Salathiel (1828)—and they were issued in London by Henry Colburn. Despite some incompatibility between Croly’s fiercely satiric literary persona and his desire for preferment in the church, he was eventually appointed rector to the London parish of St Benet and St Stephen and awarded an honorary DD by Trinity College Dublin (1831). He continued writing and editing until late in life. In his final years, he suffered bereavement (his wife, a son, and a daughter). He died at London and was buried in his own church, St Stephen Walbrook. (ODNB 3 May 2019)
Other Names:
- Croly
- the Rev. George Croly