Robert Michael Ballantyne

About the Author Robert Michael Ballantyne (1825 - 1894) was a Scottish author of juvenile fiction who wrote more than 100 books. Ballantyne was born in Edinburgh and became a newspaper editor and printer in the family firm of -Ballantyne & Co-. A UK-wide banking crisis in 1825 resulted in the collapse of the Ballantyne printing business the following year with debts of 130,000, which led to a decline in the family's fortunes. Ballantyne went to Canada aged 16, and traded with the local Native...See more

About the Author Robert Michael Ballantyne (1825 - 1894) was a Scottish author of juvenile fiction who wrote more than 100 books. Ballantyne was born in Edinburgh and became a newspaper editor and printer in the family firm of -Ballantyne & Co-. A UK-wide banking crisis in 1825 resulted in the collapse of the Ballantyne printing business the following year with debts of 130,000, which led to a decline in the family's fortunes. Ballantyne went to Canada aged 16, and traded with the local Native Americans for furs, which required him to travel by canoe and sleigh to the areas occupied by the modern-day provinces. See less