Robert Leighton

Robert Leighton (5 June 185811 May 1934) was a Scottish journalist, editor, and writer of boys' fiction. He was an editor of juvenile magazines, and through his work at Young Folks he met his future wife Marie Connor, a prolific author in her own right. Leighton became an expert on dogs and their care and produced many works on this topic.

Early life Leighton was born in the town of Ayr in Scotland on 5 June 1858 to Robert Leighton, a Scottish poet (20 February 182210 May 1869), and Elizabeth Jane Campbell (1820–1914). Some sources, such as the British Library give his year of birth as 1859. Others, including Sutherland, give it at 1858. However, his father only worked in Ayr from 1854 to 1858 for a Liverpool seed merchant, and the only male Leighton born in the District of Ayr from 1854 to 1864 was an unnamed son to Leighton's parents on 5 June 1858.

In the 1861 Census, Leighton was living in Liverpool, where his father was employed by a seed and agricultural supplies merchant. He was educated in the school attached to the Hope Street Unitarian Chapel in Liverpool. He began work as a journalist at age 14, working first for the Liverpool Porcupine, a social and satirical journal.

Moving to London Leighton moved to London in 1879 and began working for Young Folks magazine as an assistant editor. Young Folks accepted Treasure Island from Robert Louis Stevenson and ran it as a serial from 1881 to 1882 while he was first assistant editor. Young Folks also serialised The Black Arrow in JuneOctober 1883. Leighton was the editor from 1884 to 1885.

While he was at Young Folks, he met the tempestuous Marie Connor (February 186628 January 1941), the adopted daughter of James Nenon Alexander Connor, formerly a captain in the 87th Foot, and the daughter of Elizabeth Ann Harris (184916 April 1908), a widow, born Trelawny. Connor, who contributed to the magazine, published her first novel Beauty's Queen, a three-volume melodrama, in 1884 when she was 18. In 1886 Leighton left Little Folks to move to the Bristol Observer, but returned to London in 1887.

In London, he eventually found work with the Harmsworths, and was a director of their Answers Ltd company from 1893 to 1896.

Marriage and family In 1889, Leighton eloped with Marie Connor; they were married at Marylebone in the first quarter of 1889. Marie was an established novelist at this stage, publishing her sixth book in the year of her marriage.

Leighton began to produce books himself, starting with The Pilots of Pomona in 1892, but throughout the marriage, his wife's income from writing far exceeded his. Leighton was the literary editor of the Daily Mail from 1896 to 1899.

The Leightons had four children: Their first child was accidentally smothered in infancy by a nurse. Roland Aubrey Leighton (27 March 189523 December 1915), a poet who was killed in the First World War. He was Vera Brittain's fiancé and features largely in Testament of Youth, the first instalment of her memoirs. He was his mother's favourite. "He is the only one of my children who is beautiful enough to be worth dressing" her daughter reports her as saying. Marie was devastated when Roland was killed and published an anonymous memoir of him as Boy of My Heart in 1916. The inscription chosen by the family for Roland's headstone reads: "GOODNIGHT, THOUGH LIFE AND ALL TAKE FLIGHT, NEVER GOOD-BYE." Larry McMurtry (American novelist, essayist, bookseller and screenwriter) said Leighton's Sergeant Silk: the prairie scout (about a fictional member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police), was one of the first books McMurtry ever read. He had been given it by a young relative departing to fight in World War II.

One enormous job Leighton did undertake was the editing of Hall Caine's Life of Christ. When he began this work, the book had some three-million words. Leighton managed to reduce this to some 750,000 before his death in 1934. It was eventually published in 1938, but Leighton's contribution was not mentioned by Caine's sons in their introduction to the work.

Example of illustrations from a historical novel by Leighton

The following illustrations by Alfred Pearse (1856–1933) for The Thirsty Sword – a story of the Norse invasion of Scotland (1262–1263) give an idea of the pacing of Leighton's writing in a novel which was meant to teach history as well as entertain.

List of long works The following is a list, drawn from the Jisc Library Hub Discover collated catalogue.

+Details of Book full title, secondary authors and publisher Serial Year Title Other authors Publisher 1 1892 The pilots of Pomona: a story of the Orkney Islands London: Blackie & Son 2 1893 The thirsty sword: a story of the Norse invasion of Scotland (1262–1263) London: Blackie & Son 3 1894 In the Grip of the Algerine. A historical tale, etc. London: Sunday School Union 4 1894 Wreck of the Golden Fleece. The story of a North Sea fisher-boy, etc. London: Blackie & Son 5 1895 Olaf the Glorious: a historical story of the Viking age, etc. London: Blackie & Son 6 1896 Under the Foeman's Flag: a story of the Spanish Armada, etc. London: Andrew Melrose 7 1910 The golden galleon: being a narrative of the adventures of Master Gilbert Oglander, and of how, in the year 1591 he fought under the gallant Sir Richard Grenville in the great sea-fight off Flores, on board Her Majesty's ship The Revenge London: Blackie and Son 8 1898 Convict 99: a true story of penal servitude Marie Connor London: Grant Richards 9 1898 The splendid stranger: a story of the Monmouth rebellion London: The Sunday School Union 10 1901 In the grip of the Corsair: being the personal narrative of Sir Lester Willoughby, Knight London: Andrew Melrose 11 1901 In the shadow of guilt: a novel Marie Connor London: Grant Richards 12 1902 Cap'n Nat's Treasure: a tale of Old Liverpool, etc. London: S. W. Partridge & Co 13 1902 The Boys of Waveney, etc. London: Grant Richards 14 1903 Fighting fearful odds, or, The temptations of Jack Rodney London: Andrew Melrose 15 1903 In the land of the Ju-Ju: a tale of Benin, the city of blood London: Andrew Melrose 16 1903 The haunted ship: a tale of the Devon smugglers London: Andrew Melrose 17 1903 The Kidnapping of Peter Cray. A story of the South Seas, etc. London: Grant Richards 18 1904 Hurrah! for the Spanish Main: a tale of Drake's third voyage to Darien, etc. London: Andrew Melrose 19 1904 The Other Fellow; or, the Heir from the Colonies, etc. London: Andrew Melrose 20 1905 The boy and his school: what it can and what it cannot give him London: J. Murray 21 1905 The green painted ship London: Andrew Melrose 22 1905 With Nelson in Command: a story of adventure in the battle of the Baltic, etc. London: Andrew Melrose 23 1906 Gipsy Kit; or the man with the tattooed face London: S. W. Partridge & Co 24 1906 Monitor at Megson's. A master, a schoolboy and a secret London: Cassell and Company 25 1907 A bit of a bounder, or, The surreptitious cigarette London: Sunday School Union 26 1907 The new book of the dog London: Cassel and Company 27 1909 Gildersley's Tenderfoot. A story of Redskin and prairie London: C. Arthur Pearson 28 1910 Dogs and all about them London: Cassell and Company 29 1910 Kiddie of the camp: a story of the western prairies London: C. Arthur Pearson 30 1910 My Memoirs. [With an introduction by Robert Leighton, and with illustrations.] Princess Caroline Murat London: Eveleigh Nash 31 1910 The cleverest chap in the school London: Jarrold & Sons 32 1911 Coo-ee!: a story of peril and adventure in the South Seas London: C. Arthur Pearson 33 1911 The kidnapped regiment: a story of 1745 London: Pilgrim Press 34 1911 The perils of Peterkin: a story of adventure in north-west Canada London: Jarrold & Sons 35 1912 Rattlesnake Ranch. A story of adventure in the great North West London: C. Arthur Pearson 36 1912 The bravest boy in the camp: a story of adventure on the western prairies London: Jarrold & Sons 37 1913 Sergeant Silk: the prairie scout London: Jarrold & Sons 38 1915 The red patrol: a story of the North-West Mounted Police London: Jarrold & Sons 39 1916 Dreadnoughts of the Dogger: a story of the war on the North Sea London: Ward, Lock & Co 40 1917 Woolly of the wilds: a story of pluck and adventure in North-West Canada London: Ward, Lock & Co 41 1920 Kiddie the scout London: C. Arthur Pearson 42 1922 The complete book of the dog London: Cassell and Company 43 1922 The white man's trail: a story of adventure and mystery in the Canadian wilds London: C. Arthur Pearson 44 1923 Sea Scout and Savage, etc. London: Ward, Lock & Co 45 1923 The Black Prince of Africa. A sketch for boys, etc. London: United Council for Missionary Education 46 1924 Kiddie the prairie rider London: C. Arthur Pearson 47 1924 Your dog London: Cassell and Company 48 1926 Softfoot of Silver Creek London: Ward, Lock & Co 49 1928 A jewel of the seas London: John F. Shaw 50 1928 The popular Chow Chow: its history, strains, pedigrees, breeding, character and kennel management London: Popular Dogs Pub. Co 51 1929 Who killed lord Luxmore? Marie Connor London: C. Arthur Pearson 52 1930 The Red Shadow [and other tales] London: Collins 53 1932 The Dalmatian and all about it James Saunders Idle, Bradford: Watmoughts Ltd

Further details on long works. The columns PG, IA, HT, and BL indicate if online texts are available at: PG Project Gutenberg IA The Internet Archive HT The HathiTrust BL The British Library

Example of illustrations from an adventure story by Leighton While still set in a historical tale, The Golden Galleon was more of an adventure story than a history lesson. It was illustrated by William Rainey.

Shorter works Leighton published both short stories and serials in publications such as Cheer, Boys, Cheer, Boys Realm, Boys Herald, Comic Cuts, Chums, and Scout.

Death Leighton died age 75 in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire on 11 May 1934. His estate was valued at £286.