Ballantyne, R M

About the artist

Name

Ballantyne, R M

Biography

Robert Michael Ballantyne was born at 25 Ann Street in Edinburgh, on April 24th, 1825. His father Alexander Ballantyne was brother and junior partner of John and James Ballantyne, Printers and Publishers. Aged sixteen, he signed on for five years with the Hudson's Bay Co., through which he was able to travel to Canada. He recorded his adventures in a journal, as well as in his correspondence to his family back in Scotland. When he returned to Edinburgh, a friend suggested that he revise his journal and letters for publication, and add his illustrations. The author's travel experiences often set the backdrop for the boys' own adventures he went on to write, and helped him to imagine and describe places he had not visited, though Ballantyne did prefer to write based on his own experience. In 1857, Ballantyne wrote The Coral Island, perhaps his most well-known book.
Aged only 24, after the death of a sister, Ballantyne became a devoted churchgoer, and went on to be elected as an elder of the Free Church of Scotland. In this role, he promoted good causes as well as his work. As an earnestly religious man he was never ashamed of the religious references which appeared in many of his books. Around 1855 he was encouraged by William Nelson of Thomas Nelson and Sons to become a full time writer and after the successful publication of The Young Fur-Traders this is what he did. In 1866, he married Jane Grant, the daughter of a minister, and they had three daughters and three sons. In 1873, the family moved to Europe, only to return to the U.K. for the sake of the children's education in 1879. In 1890, vertigo plagued the author, and he travelled to Rome for an unsuccessful cure. He died and was buried in Rome in 1894.
During his lifetime he wrote around eighty complete stories. Browse Ballantyne's titles and download ebooks from Library2go. (Go to the 'Additional ebooks' area which gives free access to Project Gutenberg books at Library2go.)

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