Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873) was a remarkable man.
He died on 18 January 1873 at his Torquay home Argyll Hall on Warren Road, having lived there since 1867. Built in 1849, Argyll Hall became the Roseland Hotel and is now an apartment block called Marine Palms.
He is also remembered in Lytton House on St Lukes Rd.
Edward was a hugely successful poet, playwright, and novelist. In addition to his writing, he had an impressive political career, serving twice in Parliament, first as a Whig Radical, then a Conservative MP, and going on to the House of Lords as Baron Lytton.
While Secretary of State for the Colonies, towns were been named after him in British Columbia (pictured) and Australia.
His twenty-five novels are the source of a number of phrases that have become familiar, including ‘the great unwashed’ and ‘pursuit of the almighty dollar’.
Indeed, one saying is so well-known that many people ascribe it to Shakespeare. This is ‘the pen is mightier than the sword’.
A positive message that some have adopted as a tattoo, with the occasional unfortunate result…
