Did Henty and Ballantyne Know Each Other???

Hi! Did R.M Ballantyne and G.A. Henty know each other? I figure they knew about each other since they lived at the same time and they lived in the United Kingdom, but were they friends or something like that? Thank you! -Aslan K.

Dear Aslan,

Thank you for your question. I thought this was a really great question, and so did a little bit of research in a couple of my Henty/Ballantyne biographies to get an accurate answer.

I have found no evidence that they were friends in the modern sense, but it appears that they did know each other. In fact, there is one recorded meeting between the two of them. It was when William Henry Giles Kingston, another great author who shared their Christianity, invited both Henty and Ballantyne to his house (along with some other gentlemen) to found a newspaper for boys. Let me quote Peter Newbolt, in his book G.A. Henty, A Bibliographical Study.

"Late in 1879 Henty had been invited to attend a meeting at the house of W.H.G.Kingston, at which R.M.Ballantyne was also present, to discuss the founding by Griffith & Farran of a new magazine for boys, to be called the Union Jack. It was published on 1 January 1880, with Kingston as Editor. But within six months Kingston was overtaken by an illness from which he did not recover, and Henty was asked to become Editor in his place." Appendix II Pg. 573

I am sure that they met each other multiple times because of their status as "book-stars," but to my knowledge this is the only confirmed meeting.

Thank you for this very good question. You were picked as winner of the week and so will get a free copy of Martin Rattler. If you would send me your mailing address that would be great.

AgB, Joshua Titus