Author: James Frederick Shaw Kennedy
Author: James Frederick Shaw Kennedy (1849–1901)
Alternate Name(s): Ex-Subaltern (pseudonym)
Biography: James Frederick Shaw Kennedy was born on 7 January 1849 in York, the eldest son of landowner John Shaw Kennedy of Kirkmichael. He joined the 79th (Queen's Own) Cameron Highlanders in 1869 and rose to the rank of lieutenant before his retirement in 1873. In January 1874, he met seamstress Clara Diana Webster in London and the couple had a child born in October. Despite their unmarried status, Kennedy did confirm his paternity of the child, Sidney Verner Shaw Kennedy. His father opposed his son's proposed marriage to Webster, instead favoring a wealthy Catholic widow. Kennedy went on to write two novels, The British Subaltern (1875) under the pseudonym "An Ex-Subaltern" and The Youth of the Period (1876) under his own name. In 1881, Kennedy married Webster. The conflict with his father amplified. In 1884, he plead guilty to "maliciously publishing a false and defamatory libel" against his father and paid a £100 surety. In 1885, he sued his father over the legitimacy of his child in order to secure the child's inheritance of the family estate. The court found that the subsequent marriage legitimized the child. Kennedy's last years were spent in the Northumberland House Lunatic Asylum. He died there on 24 November 1901.
Author Tags:
References: British Census (1891, 1901); Edinburgh Evening News (23 June 1885); Probate
Fiction Titles:
- The British Subaltern. 1 vol. London: Samuel Tinsley, 1875.
- The Youth of the Period. 1 vol. London: Samuel Tinsley, 1876.