There was also a New Zealand town planner named Charles Reade

Charles Reade (June 8, 1814 - April 11, 1884) was an English novelist and dramatist, best known for The Cloister and the Hearth.

Reade, the son of an Oxfordshire squire, was born at Ipsden, Oxfordshire. He studied at Magdalen College, Oxford, taking his B.A. in 1835, and became a fellow of his college. He was subsequently dean of arts and vice-president, taking his degree of D.C.L. in 1847. His name was entered at Lincoln's Inn in 1836; he was elected Vinerian Fellow in 1842, and was called to the bar in 1843. He kept his fellowship at Magdalen all his life, but after taking his degree he spent most of his time in London. He began his literary career as a dramatist, and it was his own wish that the word "dramatist" should stand-first in the description of his occupations on his tombstone. As an author, he always had an eye to stage-effect in scene and situation as well as in dialogue. His first comedy, The Ladies' Battle, appeared at the Olympic Theatre in May 1851. It was followed by Angela (1851), A Village Tale (1852), The Lost Husband (1852), and Gold (1853). But Reade's reputation was made by the two-act comedy, Masks and Faces, in which he collaborated with Tom Taylor. It was produced in November 1852, and later was expanded into three acts. By the advice of the actress, Laura Seymour, turned the play into a prose story which appeared in 1853 as Peg Woffington. He followed this up in the same year with Christie Johnstone, a close study of Scottish fisher folk, an extraordinary tour de force for the son of an English squire, whether we consider the dialect or the skill with which he enters into alien habits of thought. In 1854 he produced, in conjunction with Tom Taylor, Two Loves and a Life, and The King's Rival, and, unaided, The Courier of Lyons--well known under its later title, The Lyons Mail--and Peregrine Pickle. In the next year appeared Art, afterwards known as Nance Oldfield.

He made his name as a novelist in 1856, when he produced It's Never Too Late to Mend, a novel written with the purpose of reforming abuses in prison discipline and the treatment of criminals. He described prison life in a way that is sometimes tedious and revolting; but the power of the descriptions is undeniable. The truth of some details was challenged, and Reade defended himself vigorously. Five minor novels followed in quick succession,--The Course of True Love never did run Smooth (1857), Jack of all Trades (1858), The Autobiography of a Thief (1858), Love Me Little, Love Me Long (1859), and White Lies (1860), dramatized as The Double Marriage. Then appeared, in 1861, his masterpiece, The Cloister and the Hearth, relating the adventures of the father of Erasmus. He had dealt with the subject two years before in a short story in Once a Week, but, seeing its capabilities, expanded it; and it became recognised as one of the finest historical novels in existence. Returning from the 15th century to modern English life, he next produced another startling novel with a purpose, Hard Cash (1863), in which he drew attention to the abuses of private lunatic asylums. Three more such novels, followed --Foul Play (1869), in which he exposed the iniquities of ship-knackers, and paved the way for the labours of Samuel Plimsoll; Put Yourself in his Place (1870), in which he dealt with trade unions; and A Woman-Hater (1877), in which he exposed the degrading conditions of village life. The Wandering Heir (1875), of which he also wrote a version for the stage, was suggested by the Tichborne Case.

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