Author: Knight, Charles
Biography:
KNIGHT, Charles (1791-1873: ODNB)
Knight's poetry was a product of his early years but he wrote prolifically all his life. He was born in Windsor, the son of Mary (Binfield) and Charles Knight. His father was a bookseller and stationer; at the age of fourteen, after receiving a basic education at schools in Windsor and Ealing, he became his father's apprentice. He continued to read widely to educate himself, began to collect rare books, and started to write. In 1812, as soon as his indentures ended, he was made joint owner (with his father) and sole editor of the Windsor and Eton Express, the first of many ventures into periodical publishing. In 1813 he published his tragedy Arminius, in 1816 The Bridal of the Isles on the occasion of the imminent marriage of Princess Charlotte of Wales. In 1814 he had married Sarah Vinicombe (1791-1879), with whom he had seven children. About 1820 he shifted his business interests to London and moved his family to Brompton. Knight's reading and his work with the poor of Windsor had made him a social activist. In London he became a pioneering publisher for the working classes. Highlights were his roles as the principal publisher for the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge from about 1828 to 1846, and as editor of its Penny Magazine (1832-45), but he also wrote a one-volume biography of Shakespeare to accompany an illustrated edition of the plays (1838-41) and a Popular History of England (1855-62). His autobiography, Passages of a Working Life, appeared in 1864-5. He died at his home in Addlestone, Surrey, and was buried in the Bachelor's Acre burial ground at Windsor. (ODNB 13 Jun. 2021; ancestry.com 13 Jun. 2021)