He emigrated to the United States, and served in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, losing an eye as a result of a wound received in action.
His first play, Jeanne Dubarry, was produced at the Charing Cross Theatre in May 1875, and was followed the next year by Slight Mistakes, a farce.
In November 1882, was produced his first great success, The Silver King, written in collaboration with Henry Arthur Jones, with whom he also wrote Breaking a Butterfly (an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House; 1884) and Chatterton (1884).
He also wrote: For Old Virginia (1891); Eagle Joe (1892); and Fay o' Fire (1885), a romantic opera, for which Edward Jones composed the music.
[1][2] Between 1887 and 1891 he wrote several novels in collaboration with David Christie Murray, such as: One Traveler Returns (1887); A Dangerous Catspaw (1889); The Bishops' Bible (1890); He Fell Among Thieves (1890); and Paul Jones's Alias (1891).