Author: SAUNDERS, John
Biography:
SAUNDERS, John (1811-95: ODNB)
According to the ODNB he was born at Barnstaple, Devon, on 2 Aug. 1811 (DNB has 1810) and his parents were John Saunders and his wife Sarah Northcote. Nothing is known about his early life but in the 1830s he was living in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, with his sister Mary Saunders (q.v.) and working as a publisher. They published The Reformed Parliament in 1834 (reissued 1838 with a new title). On 27 Feb. 1836 at Saint Martin, Lincoln, he married Catherine (or Katherine) Nettleship; they had twelve children with nine surviving to adulthood. The family moved to London where Saunders wrote articles on Chaucer for the Penny Magazine, issued by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge; in 1845 he published a modernised version of The Canterbury Tales. He collaborated with Mary and William Howitt (qq.v.) and founded his People's Journal in 1846. The magazine was later amalgamated with Howitt's Journal but in 1848 Saunders lost his position as editor and spent some years working as a manager for the Swan brewery in Fulham. Although he was a prolific and successful dramatist and novelist (he wrote twenty novels, some with his daughter Katherine), he struggled financially and from 1839 to 1895 he applied at least twelve times to the RLF and received sums ranging from £30 to £60. The RLF file also records that he received £250 from Benjamin Disraeli (q.v.) and £150 from the Royal Bounty Fund. Alfred Tennyson (q.v.) admired his work and several prominent authors sought unsuccessfully to secure a civil list pension for him. Predeceased by his wife, he died at home in Richmond, Surrey, on 29 Mar. 1895 and was buried in Richmond cemetery. Four of his daughters applied to the RLF as his orphans and were awarded £120. (ODNB, DNB 20 July 2026; ancestry.co.uk 20 July 2026; RLF file 974) SR