Author: Imlah, John
Biography:
IMLAH, John (1799-1846: ODNB)
He was born in Aberdeen, the youngest of seven sons of Peter and Elizabeth Imlah. His birth date is usually given as 15 Nov. 1799; public records show that as the date of his baptism at the Kirk of St. Nicholas, Aberdeen. He was educated at the grammar school before being apprenticed to a pianoforte maker in Aberdeen; he subsequently became a piano tuner, working with the firm of John Broadwood and Sons in London. He would spend most of the year in London and travel to remote regions of Scotland tuning pianos during the summer months. He seems not to have married. His songs were very popular and many were published individually during his lifetime. A second volume of Poems and Songs was issued in 1841. In late 1845 he travelled to Nova Scotia to visit a brother who had emigrated and went from there to Jamaica with another brother and his nephew. He died of yellow fever in Jamaica on 9 Jan. 1846. (ODNB 1 Mar. 2022; ancestry.co.uk 1 Mar. 2022; MSM; Aberdeen Press and Journal 25 Feb. 1846; Aberdeen Herald 28 Feb. 1846) SR