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Author: Shirrefs, Andrew

Biography:

SHIRREFS, Andrew (1762-1801?: ODNB)

Poet and bookseller. He was the son of Ann (Lunan) and David Shirrefs, a carpenter, and was born at Aberdeen. Two of his brothers made names for themselves in Aberdeen—James became the minister of St. Nicholas’s church, and Alexander was president of the Society of Advocates. Like them, Andrew had a good education and he earned his MA from Marischal College in 1783. However, an accident which led to the loss of his legs meant that he turned away from a professional career to become a bookseller and printer at a succession of premises in Aberdeen and in Edinburgh. He started a short-lived newspaper, the Aberdeen Chronicle, in 1787 and published the Caledonian Magazine (1786-90). He was also a musician and his Forty Pieces of Original Music was published in 1786. In 1791 he went to Edinburgh where he had a shop on Castle Hill and where his ballad opera, Jamie and Bess, was staged for his benefit (he is said to have performed one of the songs). Another play, “The Sons of Britannia,” was likely staged in 1796 but was never printed. The Scottish Book Trade Index says that he married Margaret Leslie in Aberdeen in 1792, but no documentary evidence for this claim has been found and ODNB does not record a marriage. In about 1798 he left Scotland for London, and no record of his death has been found. ODNB gives a possible date of 1807 but also states that his death likely occurred by or in 1801. (ODNB 28 Sept. 2020; ancestry.co.uk 28 Sept. 2020; DWS; Scottish Book Trade Index)

 

Books written (2):

Edinburgh/ London: W. Creech and P. Hill/ G. G. J. and J. Robinsons, 1790