William Harrison Ainsworth (4 February 1805 – 3 January 1882)[2][3] was an English historical novelist born at King Street in Manchester.

While completing his legal studies in London he met the publisher John Ebers, at that time manager of the King's Theatre, Haymarket.

The area influenced Ainsworth with its historical and romantic atmosphere, which existed until the community was later replaced by commercial buildings[when?].

Besides the community, Ainsworth read romantic works as a child and enjoyed stories dealing with either adventure or supernatural themes.

[6] They printed large excerpts from the play before praising Ainsworth as a playwright as someone that rivalled even George Gordon Byron.

After receiving a favourable reception for one set of works, Ainsworth had them published by John Arliss as Poems by Cheviot Ticheburn.

[8] Besides Crossley, another close friend to Ainsworth was John Aston, a clerk who worked in his father's legal firm.

In 1823, Ainsworth and Crossley began to write many works together, including the first novel Sir John Chiverton that was based around Hulme Hall in Manchester.

At the request of Ainsworth, Crossley travelled to London to meet Campbell and discuss the matter before visiting in November.

During 1824, Ainsworth set about producing his own magazine, The Boeotian, which was first published on 20 March but ended after its sixth issue on 24 April.

Ainsworth attended Lamb's circle, and met many individuals including Henry Crabb Robinson and Mary Shelley.

He continued to write, and a collection of his poems called The Works of Cheviot Tichburn, with the types of John Leigh was published.

The relationship with the Ebers family continued, and John published a pamphlet of Ainsworth's called Considerations on the best means of affording Immediate Relief to the Operative Classes in the Manufacturing Districts.

[13] Ebers became interested in Ainsworth's novel early on and started to add discussions about it in The Literary Souvenir in order to promote the work.

The novel also brought Ainsworth to the attention of historical novelist Walter Scott, who later wrote about the work in various articles; the two later met in 1828.

Ebers promised to pay a dowry of 300 pounds, but the funds were never given and this caused a strain in the relationship between Ainsworth and his father-in-law.

During their travels, they visited the tomb of Percy Bysshe Shelley and John Keats, along with witnessing other notable scenes in the lives of the British Romantic poets.

[18] It was not until a visit to Chesterfield towards the end of 1831 that he was fully inspired to begin writing the novel,[19] which he did self-confessedly "in the bygone style of Mrs Radcliffe".

During this time, Ainsworth met Charles Dickens and introduced the young writer to the publisher John Macrone and the illustrator Cruikshank.

[25] A fifth edition of Rookwood appeared in 1837, and its success encouraged Ainsworth to work on another novel about a famous outlaw, the story of Jack Sheppard.

[27] A controversy[clarification needed] over these Newgate novels developed between the two men, culminating in Dickens' retirement from the magazine editorship.

[28] Jack Sheppard was published in a three volume edition by Bentley in October 1839, and eight different theatrical versions of the story were staged in autumn 1839.

[33] Ainsworth hoped to start publishing Windsor Castle in his magazine by April, but he was delayed when his mother died on 15 March 1842.

[36] The next work that Ainsworth included in his magazine was Saint James's or the Court of Queen Anne, An Historical Romance, which ran from January 1844 until December 1844.

The popularity of his magazine decreased over that year due to a lack of quality works, except for a series by Leigh Hunt, A Jar of Honey from Mount Hybla.

Jack Sheppard, Guy Fawkes, 1841, Old St Paul's, 1841, Windsor Castle, 1843, and The Lancashire Witches are regarded as his most successful novels.

He was very popular in his lifetime (in the early decades of the twentieth century King George V was a keen reader of his novels) and his books sold in large numbers, but his reputation has not lasted well.

Bleiler also stated "All in all, Ainsworth was not a great writer--his contemporaries included men and women who did things better--but he was a clean stylist and his work can be entertaining".

In 1911, S. M. Ellis commented: "It is certainly remarkable that, during the twenty-eight years which have elapsed since the death of William Harrison Ainsworth, no full record has been published of the exceptionally eventful career of one of the most picturesque personalities of the nineteenth century.

Ainsworth also appears as a character in the historical novel Shark Alley: The Memoirs of a Penny-a-Liner by Stephen Carver (2016), in which the Newgate Controversy is dramatized.