Author: Bennett, John
Biography:
by
Ragaz, Sharon (SR)
BENNETT, John (fl 1825-34)
Other than his association with Ipswich, Suffolk, no biographical information that can be conclusively linked to this author has been found and the name is a common one. Copsey identifies him as the John Bennett, tailor, who died at Ipswich on 25 Sept. 1855, however there is no certain evidence for this being a correct identification. (That John Bennett is listed in Census records for 1841 and 1851 as a builder; his will, proved 30 Sept. 1857, identifies him as a builder and makes no mention of his writings on shorthand.) Bennett made his name in writing about and popularising shorthand; his books include Elements of Stenography (1825), Short-hand Explained (1825), Introductory View of Short-hand (1827); and A Short Method of Writing (1832). His Expeditious Way of Writing in Common Characters (1829) features a translation of Bernardin Saint Pierre’s “The Indian Cottage” written “expeditiously.” He also published a translation from the French of M. Clery’s Journal of What Took Place at the Tower of the Temple (1828). The Bells is dedicated to Richard Hall Gower, naval inventor, who lived near Ipswich. In 1834 he published The Poetic Souvenir. It too is dedicated to Gower who had died in 1833 and, although with a different title and different wording in the dedication, the book is a reprint of The Bells. The poems are by Bennett and the advertisements in both books state that many had previously been published elsewhere. The Poetic Souvenir, formerly thought to be a collection of verse by others, is therefore Bennett’s work. (ODNB [for Richard Hall Gower] 2 June 2023, 6 Sept. 2026; findmypast.co.uk 2 June 2023; Copsey) SR