William Beatty-Kingston

William Beatty-Kingston (1837 – 4 October 1900) was an English journalist, known both as a foreign correspondent and a music critic.

Life and career Beatty-Kingston was born in London in 1837. His father was a well-known scholar and archaeologist, for many years secretary of the English Historical Society. His mother was a composer, who published songs under the pseudonym "Marielle". Beatty-Kingston joined the staff of the Public Record Office, but found little scope for advancement there, and in 1856 he moved to work for the Austrian consular service in London. In 1860 he married a Parisienne, Cecile Antoinette Cadenne de Lannoy. They had a son and two daughters. His foreign assignments for the Telegraph included covering six conflicts: the Austro-Prussian War in 1866; the siege of Rome a year later; the Franco-Prussian War; the Herzegovina uprising in 1875–1877; the Serbian rebellion of 1876–1878; and the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878. In 1884 he wrote the English version of Millöcker's Der Bettelstudent for Carl Rosa, and later he was librettist of Herve's Frivoli at Drury Lane, the adapter for the English stage of Verdi's Falstaff and the writer of other librettos and books. In 1887 he wrote two volumes on Music and Manners and Wanderer's Notes. and in 1895 a 316-page book Men, Cities, and Events.

Beatty Kingston died suddenly at sea, aged 63, returning to England from France.