Charles James Lever (1806-1872) was an Irish novelist of English descent. He is said to have been a ringleader in all kinds of trouble and to have behaved like a boy destined for the navy in one of Captain Marryat's novels. His escapades at Trinity College, Dublin are drawn on for the plots of some of his novels. Lever visited Canada as an unqualified surgeon on an emigrant ship, and has drawn upon some of his experiences in Con Cregan (1840), Arthur O'Leary (1844) and Roland Cashel (1849). His medical degree admitted him to an appointment from the Board of Health in Co. Clare but the liveliness of his diversions as a country doctor seems to have prejudiced the authorities against him. In February 1837, after varied experiences, he began running The Confessions of Harry Lorrequer through the pages of the recently established Dublin University Magazine. His brightest books, such as Lorrequer (1839), Charles O'Malley (1841), and Tom Burke of Ours (1843) are in fact little more than recitals of scenes in the life of a particular "hero, " unconnected by any continuous intrigue.