Author: Harriston, William
Biography:
HARRISTON, William (b c. 1777-1832?: ancestry.co.uk)
Although he was a prolific author who made his name writing about Glasgow, the various genealogical sites have yielded very little about his life. Nothing is known about his parents but the autobiographical account of his life, A Retrospect of the Past Fifty One Years of a Checker'd Life, makes it likely that he was born in Glasgow in about 1777. This book is not available online and has not been seen but a poem that prefaces his City Mirror contains information. He attended school only until the age of nine when, his father having died, he was apprenticed to a weaver and eventually became a journeyman. He left Glasgow for Strathblane, Stirlingshire, where he joined the army and served for about ten years, including in Ireland. On receiving his discharge and returning to Strathblane, he married; Ancestry records give his wife’s name as Margaret McGregor. They had at least five children; one son, Robert, was born in Stirlingshire in 1805 and several more children were born in Bonhill, Dunbartonshire. By 1818, when the youngest son was born, the family was living in Glasgow. Robert became a bookseller and printer and issued two of his father’s books. Harriston wrote two comedies: The Intended Emigrants (1817) and The Fortunate Ploughman, a Scots Rural Comedy (n.d.). He also published broadsides but these are not included in this bibliography. Ancestry records indicate that he likely died in Glasgow in 1832. The youngest son, Daniel, emigrated to Australia and died at Melbourne in 1902. (ancestry.co.uk 7 Dec. 2021; Goodridge; WorldCat) SR
Other Names:
- W. Harriston