Playwright and novelist, born in London; was for a number of years on the staff of Fun and a contributor to the Referee and Weekly Dispatch , making his mark by his humorous and pathetic Dagonet ballads and stories; has been a busy writer of popular plays (e. g . "The Lights o' London," "The Romany Rye") and novels (e. g . "Rogues and Vagabonds," "Dramas of Life"); contributed noteworthy letters to the Daily News on the condition of the London poor; b . 1847.