Richard Whiteing

Richard Whiteing (July 27, 1840 - June 29 1928), English author and journalist, was born in London, the son of Mary Lander and William Whiteing, a civil servant employed as an Inland Revenue Officer.

He was a pupil of Benjamin Wyon, medallist and seal-engraver, and made his journalistic debut by a series of papers in the "Evening Star" in 1866, printed separately in the next year as "Mr Sprouts, His Opinions". He became leader-writer and correspondent on the "Morning Star", and was subsequently on the staff of the "Manchester Guardian", the "New York World", and for many years the "Daily News", resigning from the last- named paper in 1899.

His novel "The Democracy" (3 vols, 1876) was published under the pseudonym of Whyte Thorne. His remarkable story "The Island" (1888) attracted little attention until, years afterwards, its successor, "No. 5 John Street" (1899), made him famous; the earlier novel was then republished. Later works were "The Yellow Van" (1903), "Ring in the New" (1906), "All Moonshine" (1907).

Richard's autobiography, "My Harvest", written in 1915, led many to believe he was an only child, whose mother had died in the 1840s when he was quite young. However family historian, Kathleen Whiteing Fitzgerald, revealed that Richard actually had three siblings. There were two brothers, Robert & George, who had both lived well into adulthood and a sister Elizabeth who died as an infant. Fitzgerald noted that in the 1861 London census Richard, then 20 years old, was listed as living with both of his parents and his younger brother George. Both of Richard's parents died in 1886.

In 1869 Richard married Helen, the ward/niece of Townsend Harris, US Ambassador to Japan. To their marriage was born an only child in 1872, Richard Clifford Whiteing. Their son married Ellen Marie Louise "Nell" DuMaurier in 1908, the niece of illustrator and novelist George DuMaurier and cousin of actor Gerald DuMaurier.

After Richard's separation from Helen, he lived for many years with journalist and children's author Alice Corkran. He was also friends with her sister Henriette, who wrote an intimate account of him in her "Celebrities and I". Richard died in Hampstead and is buried in the Parish Church of St. John-at-Hampstead, Church Row, London near his wife Helen.----