A Compendium of Irish Biography/Torrens, Robert

by Alfred Webb

Layout 2

Torrens, Robert, Colonel, a prolific writer, was born in Ireland in 1780. He entered the Royal Marines in 1797, and rising through the various grades became a colonel in 1837. He distinguished himself against the Danes in 1811, and afterwards served in the Peninsula, where he was appointed colonel of a Spanish legion. In 1831 he was elected member of Parliament for Bolton. His works, numbering twenty-six in Allibone's list, are on divers subjects, from Celibia Choosing a Husband, a novel published in 1809, to Tracts on Finance and Trade, 1852. The Annual Register says: " He was an indefatigable writer; the productions of his pen, which include a great variety of tracts on subjects of political economy, some able pamphlets on the currency, and some literary efforts of a lighter class, extend over a period of fifty years. For some time Colonel Torrens was a part proprietor and editor of the Globe newspaper. He was a skilful and lucid writer, and succeeded in throwing considerable light upon some of those abstruse questions connected with monetary science which are the stumbling-block of economical students." He died 27th May 1864, aged 84. ^{[1] [2]}

Authorities

1. Annual Register. London, 1756–1877.
2. Authors, Dictionary of British and American: S. Austin Allibone. 3 vols. Philadelphia, 1869–'71.