Author: Montgomery, James
Biography:
MONTGOMERY, James (1771-1854: ODNB)
pseudonym: Paul Positive
Poet and journalist. He was born at Irvine, Ayrshire, to John Montgomery and his wife, Mary (Blackley). Although originally from Scotland, his family had settled in Ulster where his parents joined the Protestant sect of Moravians. John Montgomery had charge of the Moravian church in Irvine but in 1775 the family moved back to Ulster, to Grace Hill, near Ballykennedy, Co. Antrim. Montgomery was educated there before being sent to the Moravian community in Leeds in 1777. His parents travelled to Barbados as missionaries in 1783 and they died there. When he was sixteen, he was apprenticed to a baker in Mirfield. Although the work allowed him time to write both poetry and music, he ran away, going first to Wentworth (near Rotherham), then briefly to London, and finally to Wath (where he had been working in a general store). In 1792 he began working as a clerk for the radical Sheffield Register and this was a turning point in his life. He became a regular contributor to the newspaper. When it was relaunched in 1794 as the more moderate Sheffield Iris, he became editor and, within a year, owner. Prosecuted for sedition in both 1795 and 1796, he spent time in prison: his Prison Amusements dates from this time and was followed by a collection of essays, The Whisper (1798, published as by Gabriel Silvertongue). The newspaper proved profitable and Montgomery became a well-regarded man of business in Sheffield where he was also engaged in a host of philanthropic activities. His writing career flourished and his long political poem, The Wanderer, in particular garnered praise from, among others, Byron, Southey, and Scott (qq.v.). He also wrote literary reviews and gave a series of lectures on poetry at the Royal Institution in 1833. Montgomery was a prolific writer of hymns, many of which remain in use today. In his later years he received a government pension on Sir Robert Peel’s recommendation. He died at home in Sheffield and there was a large public funeral. He was buried adjacent to Sheffield Cathedral where the east window is dedicated to his memory. (ODNB 17 Apr 2020)
Other Names:
- J. Montgomery
- Montgomery