Author: Lake, John
Biography:
LAKE, John (fl 1812-36)
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. The 1851 census records a John Lake, native of Scotland, living in Westminster; he gives his occupation as "Author of General Literature." Assuming he is that John Lake, he was 69 at the time and therefore must have been born about 1782. (ancestry.com 25 Aug. 2019; James Grant Raymond, Preface to The House of Morville)