The Warden

The Warden is a novel by English author Anthony Trollope published by Longman in 1855. It is the first book in the Chronicles of Barsetshire series, followed by Barchester Towers.

Trollopes tale seems to have taken inspiration from the 1849 enquiries by the Rev. Henry Holloway, a Church reformer and vicar of St Faiths Church, Winchester, into the finances of the Hospital of St Cross, Winchester, and the income derived by the institutions Master, Francis North, 6th Earl of Guilford. Norths income, however, was conjectured to be in excess of £2,000 a year(£271,010 in 2020), much greater than the £800 (£108,404 in 2020) of the fictional Warden Harding.
Trollope also makes allusion to the case of Rochester Cathedral Grammar School where in 1849 the headmaster, Robert Whiston, brought a case in the Court of Chancery claiming that the Church of England was misapplying the revenues of many such charitable bequests, including the one funding his own school.

Anthony Trollope (24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, which revolves around the imaginary county of Barsetshire. He also wrote novels on political, social, and gender issues, and other topical matters. Trollopes literary reputation had already dipped during the last years of his life, but he had regained somewhat of a following by the mid-20th century.