Author: Egan, Pierce
Biography:
EGAN, Pierce (1772-1849: ODNB)
His birth year is usually given as 1772 although no birth or baptism record has been located. In an application to the RLF Mary Egan, his third and surviving wife, gave his birth date as 4 Sept. 1773 at High Holborn, London. His parents were Pierce Egan and his wife Catherine Constable, a widow at the time of their marriage at St. George’s, Hanover Square, on 23 Feb. 1767. Egan was registered as an apprentice to the Stationers’ Company in 1786. He married Sarah Head in St. Dunstan’s, Stepney, London, on 5 Mar. 1796. It is not known when Sarah died but on 7 July 1806 at St. Marylebone he married Catherine Povey. They had five daughters and one son (the artist and novelist Pierce James Egan) before Catherine’s death in about 1826. Egan worked as a compositor for George Smeeton who printed and published the first volume of Egan’s Boxiana; or Antient and Modern Pugilism (1812, 1818, 1821, 1824). Egan’s Life in London with illustrations by the Cruikshank brothers appeared in monthly numbers in 1821-22. Its immediate popularity led to numerous spin-offs: stage versions, imitations, and pirated editions. In response to these, Egan published Finish to the Adventures of Tom, Jerry, and Logic in 1828. Specialising in sport and especially in boxing, he also enjoyed success as a publisher, bookseller, and reporter. His journal, Pierce Egan’s Life in London and Sporting Guide began publication in 1823 and was later merged with Bell’s Life in London. Egan’s business premises in the 1820s were at 71 Chancery Lane. His third marriage, to Mary Sarah Paul (b 1799), took place at St. George’s, Hanover Square, on 19 Oct. 1829. Egan’s first application to the RLF dates from 25 Aug. 1830 but the fund denied his request on the grounds that his writings were “of an improper tendency.” Egan learned the reason for his rejection only in 1842 and he wrote at length to express his outrage. He died at home at 9 Regent’s Terrace, Southampton Street, Pentonville, on 3 Aug. 1849 and was buried on 10 Aug. at Highgate cemetery. His other works include Walks Through Bath (1819), Account of the Trial of John Thurtell and Joseph Hunt (1824), and The Life of an Actor (1824, a novel). Mary Egan’s 1849 request for assistance from the RLF was denied. (ODNB 29 May 2024; ancestry.co.uk 29 May 2024; RLF file 686; BBTI) SR