Lever

Lever, Charles James (1806-72), was the second son of James Lever, of Dublin. Both his parents were of English descent. He graduated at Trinity College in 1827, and in the succeeding years travelled in Holland, Germany, and Canada. He then became a surgeon; but, though he had a good practice and had inherited half his father's property, his extravagance compelled him to look for an additional source of income in literature. In 1837 Harry Lorrequer began to appear in the Bublin University Magazine. Three years later the author went-to live at Brussels, but continued to write. In 1840 Charles O'Malleij appeared in serial form. In 1842 Lever returned to Dublin on an invitation to become editor of the magazine whose fortune he had made. In it Tom Burke of Ours came out in 1844, and was followed by The O'Bonoghue (1845) and The Knight of Gwynne (1847). He was visited by Thackeray when on his Irish tour, and the Irish Sketchbook was dedicated to Lever. In 1845 he resigned his editorship, and began a wandering life on the Continent. At Florence he wrote The Dodd Family Abroad (1854), the last of his novels which had real merit. Later, however, he contributed novels to Blackwood and Comhill, and wrote "topical" notes for the former paper signed Cornelius O'Dowd. In 1857 he was appointed consul at Spezia, and ten years later was transferred to Trieste, where he died. He paid a last visit to Ireland in 1871.