Anthony Trollope (1815тАУ1882) was the third son of a barrister. After attending Winchester and Harrow schools, Trollope scraped into the General Post Office, London, in 1834, where he worked for seven years. In 1841 he was transferred to Ireland as a surveyorтАЩs clerk, and in 1844 married and settled at Clonmel.
After a distinguished career in the GPO, for which he invented the pillar box and travelled extensively abroad, Trollope resigned in 1867, earning his living from writing instead. He led an extensive social life, from which he drew material for his many social and political novels.