William E Burton

William Evans Burton was born in London on the 24th September 1804. 

Initially set for a career in the church he attended St. Paul's School in London. At 18, after the death of his father, he took charge of the family printing concern. He established a monthly magazine, which although a failure, brought him several theatrical acquaintances which then lured him towards the stage.

For several years he acted in low comedies around the provinces before debuting, to good notices, in London. In 1833 his own play ‘Ellen Wareham’, was, somewhat unusually put on at five different theatres on the same evening. 

In 1834 his marriage of 10 years failed and he decided to relocate, by himself, to America. He soon leased a theatre, which he renamed ‘Burton’s Theatre’, in New York. 

Three years later he established, with Edgar Allan Poe as its editor, the Gentleman’s Magazine in Philadelphia and wrote one of the earliest detective stories for it; ‘The Secret Cell’.

He and Poe had a difficult relationship, added to which Burton was frequently away in acting roles in other cities. By 1840 he had fired Poe and then sold the magazine to finance renovation work on his theatre, which some time later failed. Burton spend much of his remaining years editing magazines and writing books.

William E Burton died on the 10th February 1860 in New York City. 

He left his fortune, among which was a library of over 100,000 books, to charity. His separated wife from decades earlier challenged the will and created legal history in eventually gaining ownership of the estate.

Miniature Masterpieces

The Secret Cell: ''After a painful and fruitless search''

Login with...

Create an account