Charles Kingsley was a broad church priest of the Church of England, a university professor at the University of Cambridge, social reformer, historian and novelist. He was a friend and correspondent with Charles Darwin. In 1861 he became a private tutor to the Prince of Wales.
Kingsley's interest in history is shown in several of his writings, including The Heroes (1856), a children's book about Greek mythology, and several historical novels. Kingsley's concern for social reform is illustrated in his classic, The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby (1863), a tale about a chimney sweep, which retained its popularity well into the 20th century. The children's book Madam How and Lady Why deals with popular natural history.
Kingsley was influenced by Frederick Denison Maurice, and was close to many Victorian thinkers and writers, including the Scottish writer George MacDonald.
(source: wikipedia)