Ballantyne was born in Edinburgh on 24 April 1825,
a nephew of the Ballantynes who published Walter Scott. The financial
crash of 1826 which caused Scott such misery also affected Ballantyne's
family, with the result that Ballantyne had to seek employment
in order to support his mother and five sisters. In 1841 he began
to work as a clerk for the Hudson's Bay Company at the Red River
Settlement in northern Canada. He returned to Edinburgh in 1848
and worked as a clerk with the North British Railway. In 1852
he became a partner in the publishing firm of Thomas Constable.
He began to write children's stories based on his experiences
in Canada, and achieved his greatest success with "Coral
Island" (1858), the book for which he is remembered. He remained
in Edinburgh until 1875, then lived in France, England and Italy,
touring widely as a public lecturer. He died in Rome on 8 February
1894.
The Young Fur Traders (1855)
Three Little Kittens (1856) (verse)
Ungava (1857)
The Coral Island (1858)
Martin Rattler (1858)
The Robber Kitten (1860) (verse)
The Dog Crusoe (1861)
The Wild Men of the West (1863)
The Lifeboat (1864)
The Lighthouse (1865)
The Iron Horse (1871)
Black Ivory (1873)
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