He wrote marvellous books about the building of such lighthouses as the Eddystone and the Bell Rock. Coral Island (1858) is his most famous work.Īfter that he wrote over eighty books for boys, which were well researched, so that he gained a reputation which led to some of his books being written at the special request of the Post Office, the London Fire Brigade and other Authorities. He wrote his first stories on his experiences in Canada, with books such as The Young Fur Traders (1856). Educated at The Edinburgh Academy, he joined the Hudson's Bay Company in 1841, and worked as a clerk in the Red River Settlement in the backwoods of northern Canada until 1847, before returning to Edinburgh in 1848. Scottish author of boys' books, born in Edinburgh, a nephew of James and John Ballantyne, the printers. Robert Michael Ballantyne (1825-1894), A Short Biography, with acknowledgements to Chambers Biographical Dictionary. Of course we will go with him on some more of his wanderings. He catches the boat by the skin of his teeth. Will is determined to see more of her, but he has no money to pay the exorbitant sum demanded for his fare back to England, so he finds a very quick agent, who finds a very quick lawyer, so that his estate can be sold, and the money raised for the fare. Surprise, surprise! A young lady whom Will had met on one of his previous adventures appeared on the scene, on her way back to England. So what the book is really about is the life of the miners in the Gold Rush. Will gathered some of his friends, and off they went to have a look at this property.

But just before he died his father had been left a property in California-it was the time of the Gold Rush.

In this book he returns from a long trip away, during which his father had died, so his mother was very pleased to see him. The hero of many of them is a character called Will Osten, or Wandering Will. All of these were of about 120 pages, and quite small books, that could be sold for only a shilling or two.

This is one of the short but interesting books that Ballantyne wrote with the less well-off members of his readership in mind.

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