Charles robert maturin was born at Dublin in 1782. He belonged to a family of exiled French Protestants who came over to Ireland after the revo cation Of the Edict of Nantes. His grandfather, Gabriel Jasper Maturin, was Swift's successor in the Deanery of St. Patrick's in 1745, and his great-grand father, Peter Maturin, had been Dean of Killala in the earlier years of the century. His father, Jasper Maturin, was well known in Dublin, where he held a Government appointment of sufficient value to enable him to live in af?uence. It is said that in his youth he had himself attempted a literary career, but had failed for lack of patronage. He held this post until after the marriage of his ninth son, Robert, but about the year 1808 he lost his appointment on account of an unjust charge of dishonesty. Though the case was investigated and his character cleared, he was not reinstated in his former position, and remained in poverty and neglect for some years.