Author: Lake, John
Biography:
LAKE, John (1771-1856?: RLF)
Born in Scotland, he was apprenticed to a tailor and worked at that trade for some years, first in his home country and then in London. About 1807, he signed on as a "subordinate officer" with the East India Company and made several voyages, during which he was given access to some of the Captain's books--notably plays, including Shakespeare's--and began to try his hand at writing. He found support from a fellow Scot, James Grant Raymond, the manager of the Lyceum Theatre, for whom he wrote a few farces and comedies in 1811-15. His first serious play, The House of Morville, was published under his name with the further identification of him as "A Tailor," and included a short biographical memoir by Raymond. A volume of poems, The Retired Lieutenant, and the Battle of Loncarty (1836), appears to have been his last publication. At that time he had a wife and son, but his wife died and his son found work in Ireland and went on to establish a family of his own. Lake became increasingly indigent. The 1851 census records him as living in Westminster; he gives his occupation as "Author of General Literature." For the census he gave his age as 69, which implies a birthdate of 1782, but several applications to the RLF between 1846 and 1852 declare a birthdate of 1 July 1771. The RLF awarded him a total of £60 and he received Royal Bounty (£25) in 1851. The promise of a place at the Charterhouse, reported in the press in 1850, was not realised. He died at the Union workhouse, Clapham, on 18 Apr. 1856 and was buried at the West Norwood cemetery on 24 Apr. (ancestry.com 25 Aug. 2019; findmypast.com 20 Mar. 2025; James Grant Raymond, Preface to The House of Morville; RLF file 1154; GRO death cert.; information from AA) HJ