James Augustus St. John
(24 September 1795-22 September 1875), was a British
author and traveller.
He was
born in Laugharne
, Carmarthenshire
, Wales
, the son of
Gelly John, shoemaker. He recorded that he received
instruction from a local clergyman, eventually mastering the
classics, and acquiring proficiency in
French, Italian, Spanish, Arabic and Persian. As James John, his
baptismal name, he became involved in radical politics. Under the
name of Julian Augustus St John he went to London, where he
obtained the post of deputy editor of
Richard Carlile's radical newspaper
The Republican.
In 1819, shortly after
the Peterloo
Massacre
, Carlile was
imprisoned and St. John briefly took over his role as
editor.
He
obtained a connection with a Plymouth
-based
newspaper, and when, in 1824, James Silk Buckingham started the
Oriental Herald, St. John became assistant editor.
In 1827, together with
D. L. Richardson, he founded the
London
Weekly Review, subsequently purchased by Colburn and
transformed into the
Court Journal.
He lived for some
years on the Continent and went in 1832 to Egypt
and Nubia, travelling mostly on foot. The results
of his journey were published under the titles
Egypt and
Mohammed Ali, or Travels in the Valley of the Nile (2 vols.,
1834),
Egypt and Nubia (1844), and
Isis, an Egyptian
Pilgrimage (2 vols., 1853).
On his return he settled in London
, and for
many years wrote political leaders for the Daily
Telegraph. In 1868 he published a Life of Sir
Walter Raleigh, based on
researches in the archives at Madrid
and
elsewhere. He died in London in 1875.
Besides the works mentioned St. John was also the author of
Journal of a Residence in Normandy (1830);
Lives of
Celebrated Travellers (1830);
Anatomy of Society
(1831);
History, Manners and Customs of the Hindus (1831);
Margaret Ravenscroft, or Second Love (3 vols., 1835);
The Hellenes, or Manners and Customs of Ancient Greece
(1842);
Sir Cosmo Digby, a novel (1844);
There and
Back Again in Search of Beauty (1853);
The Nemesis of
Power (1854);
Philosophy at the Foot of the Cross
(1854);
The Preaching of Christ
(1855);
The Ring and the Veil, a novel (1856);
Life of
Louis Napoleon (1857);
History of the Four Conquests of England (1862); and
Weighed in the Balance, a novel (1864). He also edited,
with notes, various English classics.
He had sons,
Percy
Bolingbroke St. John (1821-1889),
Bayle St. John (1822-1859),
Sir Spenser St. John (1825-1910) and
Horace Roscoe St. John
(1830-1888). All became journalists and authors of some literary
distinction, particularly Bayle St. John, who began contributing to
periodicals when only thirteen, and went on to be a prolific travel
writer and biographer.
References
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