Herbert Lacy

The Novel

Herbert Lacy and Agnes Morton, the hero and heroine, heir and heiress of two hostile families, are mutually attached, and have nearly succeeded in overcoming the scruples of their parents, when their happiness is destroyed by the interference of a designing villain, Sackville, one of the guardians of Agnes. With the view of securing to himself her immense fortune, he, by means of forged documents and law-proceedings succeeds in convincing Mr. Morton that nothing but his marriage with his daughter can save him from irretrievable ruin. Agnes consents to sacrifice herself for the welfare of her parents…


Contemporary Reviews

The story is one of great interest, the characters admirably drawn, and kept up to the last; while the language is more than commonly elegant. We need not recommend this novel—the memory of Granby will do that; but we must state our opinion that it is a great improvement on its predecessor. —  The London Literary Gazette, 1828


Herbert Lacy is the production of Mr. Lister describing, with much elegance, domestic scenes and every-day life. The materials he has concocted are not new, but they are wrought into a very entertaining tale. The volumes abound with very vivid pictures of the employments and pastimes of aristocratic families in the country. — The Gentleman's Magazine, 1828


Mr. Lister’s novel of Granby placed its author at once in the rank of those clever and intellectual persons who instruct by amusing. In Herbert Lacy there is an admirable villain, and a no less admirable tool. The novel also comprehends some comic sketches of great power. — The New Monthly Magazine, 1828


The Author

Thomas Henry Lister’s (1800-1842) several novels include Granby (1826), Herbert Lacy (1828), and Arlington (1832). He was also the author of a Life of Clarendon. In 1830, he published a story entitled A Dialogue for the Year 2130, which might be described as an early example of science fiction or 'futuristic' writing. In 1836 he was appointed as the first Registrar General for England and Wales, to head the new General Register Office. He was responsible for setting up the system of civil registration of births, deaths and marriages, and organisation of the 1841 UK Census. He died of tuberculosis in 1842.