1848 - published his first novel, A Disgrace to the Family: a Story of Social Distinction. 1850-1859 - wrote regularly for Dickens's weekly journal Household Words and for its successor All the Year Round. 1851 - first play, a one-act farce called Cool as a Cucumber, was successfully produced at the Lyceum Theatre in London. 1852 - visited Norway and Sweden. 1855 - covered the Paris Universal Exhibition for the Daily News and other journals and published an official guide to it. Began a friendship with the French artist Gustave Doré. 1857 - succeeded his father as editor of Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper. 1867 - under the pen-name Fin-Bec published The Epicure's Year-Book.