Educated briefly at the Edinburgh Academy, Ballantyne joined the Hudson Bay Company in 1841 and spent six years in North America. His time there influenced his subsequent adventure stories. His first work, Hudson Bay (1850), was published on his return to England and was very successful. His book, The Young Fur-Traders, followed in 1854, primarily at the instigation of William Nelson, and was immediately popular with young people. Ballantyne would go on to write some eighty novels, almost all of which were aimed at a young audience. He travelled extensively to obtain first-hand knowledge and material for his books. Ballantyne moved to Harrow-on-the-Hill in 1878 where he remained for the rest of his life. He died in Rome while on a recuperative holiday with friends. Ballantyne's output was huge and included The Coral Island (1857), Ungava (1858), The World of Ice (1860), The Gorilla Hunters (1861), Chasing the Sun (1864), Silver Lake (1867), Over the Rocky Mountains (1869),The Iron Horse (1871), Black Ivory (1873), Rivers of Ice (1875), Jarwin and Cuffy (1878), The Madman and the Pirate (1883), The Island Queen (1885), The Big Otter (1887), Jeff Benson (1890) and The Hot Swamp (1892). |
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