Westward, Ho is an 1855 British historical novel by Charles Kingsley, inspired in part by an Elizabethan travelogue by privateer Admiral Sir Richard Hawkins and by the Crimean War. Set initially in Bideford in North Devon during the reign of Elizabeth I, Westward Ho follows the adventures of Amyas Leigh, an unruly child who as a young man follows Francis Drake to sea. Amyas loves local beauty Rose Salterne, as does nearly everyone else. Charles Kingsley (12 June 1819 - 23 January 1875) was an English priest, university professor, historian and novelist, particularly associated with the West Country and North East Hampshire.