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Trollope was born in London, England, the son of a barrister, and educated at various public schools until his family moved to Belgium. Trollope's experiences at these schools were very miserable; at the age of twelve he fantasised about suicide. However, he took to daydreaming instead, constructing elaborate inner worlds.
Following his father's death, Trollope's mother, Frances, embarked on a writing career to make ends meet. Trollope himself obtained a job in the Post Office in 1834, and was sent to work in Ireland in 1841. On the numerous long train trips Trollope had to take to carry out his Post Office duties, he began writing, and set very firm goals about how much he would write per day, earning Trollope the title of being one of the most prolific writers of his time. He wrote his earliest novels while working as a Post man, occasionally dipping into the 'lost-letter' box for ideas (it is significant that many of his earliest novels have Ireland as their setting — natural enough given his background, but not likely to lead to a warm critical reception given the contemporary English attitudes towards Ireland). During the period of his employment as a Post Office official, Trollope is credited with having introduced the pillar box (a bright red mailPostal service redirects here. There is also a band called The Postal Service. For mail as armour, see chainmail. For digitally delivered mail, see Electronic mail. British mailboxes, visual counterparts to red telephone boxes, collect outbound mail for t box) in the United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a state in Western Europe, usually known simply as the United Kingdom the UK Britain or less accurately as Great Britain . The UK was formed by a series of Acts of Union which united the formerly.
After leaving the service and failing in a bid for election to Parliament, Trollope became a full-time writer, working as editor of the St Paul's Magazine. Through this magazine he published several of his novels. His first major success came with The Warden ( 1855Events Births January 5 King Camp Gillette, inventor († 1932) January 21 John Moses Browning, inventor († 1926) January 28 William Seward Burroughs, inventor of the calculator († 1898) March 13 Percival Lowell, astronomer († 19) — the first in the series of six novels set in the mythical countyOriginally, a county was the land under the jurisdiction of a count (in Great Britain, an earl, though the original earldoms covered larger areas) by reason of that office. The term has since tended to represent a tertiary geographical unit of administrat of "Barsetshire" (often referred to as the Chronicles of BarsetshireThe Chronicles of Barsetshire are a series of six novels by Anthony Trollope, set in the fictitious cathedral town of Barchester. They concern the dealings of the clergy, and the politics that go on behind the scenes. The novels in the series are: The War). The best-known of these is probably the comic masterpiece, Barchester TowersBarchester Towers is a novel by Anthony Trollope, first published in 1857. It is the best-loved of Trollope's books, the second of his Chronicles of Barsetshire about the inhabitants of a fictional English county. The plot of Barchester Towers concerns th ( 1857Events January 9 Earthquake at Fort Tejon, California with an estimated magnitude of 7. 9 February 16 The National Deaf Mute College (later renamed Gallaudet University) is established in Washington, DC becoming the first school for the advanced education).
Trollope's other major sequence of novels deals with politics, mainly in the shape of Plantagenet PalliserPlantagenet Palliser is the main character in The Pallisers series of novels by Anthony Trollope. The heir to the dukedom of Omnium, Palliser is a quiet, dour man whose chief ambition in life is to become Chancellor of the Exchequer. He enters into an arr (although, like the Barsetshire series, many other characters feature in each novel). Also noteworthy are Cousin Henry and Dr. Wortle's School, both probing psychological and moral studies in the vein of The Warden, and a sweeping satire, The Way We Live Now.
By the time of his death, Trollope had completed approximately four dozen novels, as well as dozens of short stories and a few books on travel.
Anthony Trollope died in 1882 and was interred in Kensal Green Cemetery, London, England, where Wilkie Collins is also buried.
C. P. Snow wrote a biography of Trollope, published in 1975, titled Trollope: His Life and Art.