Author: Mackenzie, Henry
Biography:
MACKENZIE, Henry (1745-1831; ODNB)
Born in Edinburgh to Joshua Mackenzie, a physician, and his wife, Margaret Rose of Kilravock, he was descended from the chief of the clan Mackenzie. He was educated at the Edinburgh High School and the University of Edinburgh before going to London in 1765 to study exchequer law. In 1768 he returned to Edinburgh to become a law partner of George Inglis. His first novel, The Man of Feeling (1771), was an instant success, and he was afterwards known as “the man of feeling.” It was followed by a contrasting novel, The Man of the World, his plays, and, in 1777, an epistolary novel, Julia de Roubigné. He edited two weeklies—The Mirror and The Lounger—and contributed literary criticism and essays; encouraged the careers of Burns, Scott, and Byron; promoted German literature; and chaired the committee of the Highland Society that was charged with investigating the authenticity of James Macpherson’s “Ossian” poems. In 1801-10 he was a trustee, with Scott and William Erskine (q.v.), of the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh. In 1822, commissioned by Archibald Constable, he edited the works of John Home (q.v.) and added a memoir. Despite all this literary activity, his legal career flourished and he was made comptroller for taxes of Scotland in 1779. In 1776 he had married Penuel Grant, the granddaughter of a Scottish peer; they had eleven children. By the time of his death he was one of the foremost men of letters in Scotland. He died at Edinburgh and was buried in Greyfriars churchyard. (ODNB 16 Apr 2020)
Other Names:
- H. Mackenzie