Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Lucas, Samuel (1818-1868)
LUCAS, SAMUEL (1818–1868), journalist and author, eldest son of Thomas Lucas, a Bristol merchant, was born in 1818, and educated at first with a view to following his father's business, but afterwards, when his taste for literature and learning had developed, he went to Queen's College, Oxford, as a preparation to entering the legal profession. He matriculated on 13 Oct. 1838, and graduated B.A. in 1842, and M.A. in 1846. He was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1846. While at Oxford he gained the Newdigate prize for English verse in 1841 and the chancellor's prize for the English essay in 1845. For some years after his call he went the western circuit, where his genial manners made him extremely popular. Leaving law for literature he connected himself with the metropolitan press and became a frequent contributor to the 'Times,' some of his articles being afterwards reprinted in book form. In 1865 he projected and started the 'Shilling Magazine,' which, however, was discontinued at the end of the year, when, through failing health, he retired from London. He died, after a lung illness, at Eastbourne on 27 Nov. 1868.
He wrote: 1. 'The Sandwich Islands,' a prize poem, 1841. 2. 'The Causes and Consequences of National Revolutions,' a prize essay, 1846. 3. 'Charters of the Old English Colonies in America,' 1860. 4. 'The Connection of Bristol with the Party of De Montfort' (in the 'Bristol Memoirs of the Archaeological Institute,' 1851). 5. 'History as a condition of National Progress,' a lecture, 1853. 6. 'Illustrations of the History of Bristol and its Neighbourhood,' 1853. 7. 'Dacoitee in Excelsis, or the Spoliation of Oude,' 1867. 8. 'Eminent Men and Popular Books, from the "Times,"" 1859. 9. 'Biography and Criticism, from the "Times,"' 1860. 10. 'Secularia, or Surveys on the Mainstream of History,' 1862, 11.'Mornings of the Recess, 1861–4, a Series of Biographical and Literary Papers, reprinted from the "Times,"' 1864. He also edited Thomas Hood's 'Poems,' 1867, 2 vols.
[Times, 28 Nov. 1868; Foster's Alumni Oxonienses, 1715-1886.]