AINSWORTH, WILLIAM HARRISON English novelist, was born at Manchester, Feb. 4, 1805. He was educated for the law, but at the age of 21 he married a daughter of John Ebers, the publisher, and followed his father-in-law's profession for a short time. A novel called Sir John Chiverton, in which he had a share, won the praise of Sir Walter Scott, and he turned to novel-writing. Rookwood (1834), with its descrip tion of the ride of Dick Turpin to York, had an immediate suc cess. He published about 4o "historical" novels, of which the best known are Jack Sheppard (1839), The Tower of London (1840), Old St. Paul's (1841) and Windsor Castle (1843) . He edited Bentley's Miscellany, in which Jack Sheppard was pub lished as a serial, and in 1842 he became proprietor of Ainsworth's Magazine. In 1853 it ceased to appear, and Ainsworth bought the New Monthly Magazine. He died at Reigate, Jan. 3, 1882.
See S. M. Ellis, William Harrison Ainsworth and his Friends (London, New York, 1911) .