Charles Macfarlane was a Scottish writer most known for his historical and travel writings, as well as his novels. He was the son of Robert Macfarlane. From January 1816 to May 1827, he lived in Italy. In 1827, he traveled to Turkey and spent sixteen months in Constantinople and the Turkish regions. In 1829, Macfarlane settled in London, England, where he supported himself by literature. He spent many years on the staff of the publisher, Charles Knight. In 1847, Macfarlane returned to Turkey with his eldest son, who was 16 at the time. On his journey home in the summer of 1848, they stopped in Messina and took a tour of the Kingdom of Naples, the Abruzzi, the marches of Ancona, and Rome. His wife Charlotte passed away in 1854 at their house in Canterbury, Kent. In July 1857, he was designated as a poor brother of the London Charterhouse, where he died on December 9, 1858.