Author: John Crawford Wilson
Author: John Crawford Wilson (1825–1896)
Biography: John Crawford Wilson was born on 22 August 1825 in Cork, the son of revenue officer Thomas Wilson. He enter into a business career in London. In 1859, he married Sabrina Purser and the couple had two daughters. They separated at some time since Wilson lived with his second "wife" Harriet Jane Ringsell in the 1871 census. After Sabrina's death in December 1871, Wilson married Harriett. Wilson's interests turned more to the artistic than the financial. He serialized a novel in Bentley's Miscellany which was published as Jonathan Oldaker (1856). Thereafter, the wrote poetry and drama and even acted on stage. As his obituary states however, "He was, it has been said, decidedly a man of social rather than of creative genius." Called the "Founder of Clubs," he created the literary club Whitefriars and was an early member of the Savage Club. He died on his birthday 22 August 1896 in Hampstead.
Author Tags:
References: British Census (1861, 1871, 1881); Hampstead News (3 September 1896)
Fiction Titles:
- Jonathan Oldaker: or, Leaves from the Diary of a Commercial Traveller. 1 vol. London: Bentley, 1856.