Author: Dodd, James Solas
Biography:
DODD, James Solas (1720/21-1805: ODNB)
His biography is known from a memorandum he wrote for David Stewart Erskine, Earl of Buchan, which was printed in N&Q (1883). His parents were Don Jago de Solis and his wife, Rebecca Dodd, daughter of a merchantman who met Don Jago in Barcelona. Don Jago had taken the Dodd name on his marriage. In 1742 Dodd was apprenticed to John Hills, a surgeon and man-midwife in London. In 1745 he joined the Royal Navy as a surgeon’s mate on the Blenheim hospital ship. In 1751-54 he worked as a surgeon in London before rejoining the Royal Navy, becoming master surgeon in 1762. He was married three times: to Mary Vickers on 14 Feb. 1751; to Mary Palmer on 24 Dec. 1763; and to Ann Hurley Mason in 1786. He had children but only a son, James Thomas (b 1 Dec. 1761), and a daughter, Mary Rebecca (b 23 Oct. 1753), have been identified. He left the navy in 1763 and spent his time on literary projects including a series of lectures delivered at various locations in 1766; some of these were published as A Satirical Lecture on Hearts…to Which is Added a Critical Dissertation on Noses (c 1770; a response to George Alexander Stevens’s [q.v.] “Lecture upon Heads”). In 1767 his London house suddenly collapsed and the family moved to Bath, Bristol, and finally Ireland where they remained until 1779. He published Essays and Poems (1770) in Ireland. Back in London, Dodd was conned by a Major Savage, who proposed travel to Russia where Dodd and Savage were to present themselves to the empress as ambassadors. Dodd realised the truth about Savage’s character only when they reached Riga. The family returned home, landing at Leith in 1781. Almost penniless, Dodd sought to make a living in Edinburgh as an actor and lecturer; it was during this period that he met the Earl of Buchan. At some point he returned to Dublin where he died at home in Mecklinburgh Street in Apr. 1804. His other publications include The Pilgrim's Progress...in Blank Verse (subscription edition, 1795), Essay Towards a Natural History of the Herring (1752), A Physical Account of the Case of Elizabeth Canning (1753), The Funeral Pile: A Comic Opera (1772). (ODNB 17 Feb. 2021; findmypast.co.uk 17 Feb. 2021; N&Q [1883] 483-84; Oxford Journal 14 Apr. 1804; The Sun [London] 10 Apr. 1805) SR
Other Names:
- J. S. Dodd