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Oh, in that case it doesn't work like that at all. You have to write "he was a writer of/in the 19th century".

Actually he was a 19th century writer, not "the", as there were rather more than one. :)

You can't go wrong using "it" here, both with cities and with ships. However, sometimes such things as cities or ships can be personified, which elevates them somewhat over all the other neuter items...