Author: Surr, Thomas Skinner
Biography:
SURR, Thomas Skinner (1770-1847: ODNB)
He was the son of John Surr (d Feb. 1785), a shopkeeper, and his second wife Elizabeth White. They had married in St. Botolph’s, Aldersgate, London, on 22 Mar. 1768 and in Feb. 1769 they baptised a son, Thomas Surr, who must have died soon after. (DNB and ODNB erroneously identify Surr’s mother as Elizabeth Skinner, sister of Thomas Skinner, lord mayor of London 1794-95.) Thomas Skinner Surr was born on 30 Sept. 1770 and baptised at St. Botolph’s on 20 Oct. He was admitted to Christ’s Hospital school on 18 June 1778 and remained there until 7 Nov. 1785; his time at the school is the subject of his only published poem, Christ’s Hospital (1797). On 3 May 1786 he was apprenticed to Edward Hearne, an upholsterer. It is not known if he completed the apprenticeship but he seems not to have worked as an upholsterer and instead entered the Bank of England where he progressed to become a principal of the drawing office. His first novel, Consequences: or, Adventures at RRaxall [sic] Castle, was published anonymously in 1796. On 13 May 1799 he married Mary Ann Griffiths in her parish church, St. Gregory by St. Paul, London; there were no children. Surr made his name as a novelist with George Barnwell (1798), Splendid Misery (1801), A Winter in London (1806), The Mask of Fashion (1807), The Magic of Wealth (1815), Richmond (1827), and Russell, or the Reign of Fashion (1830). Many of these went to multiple editions and were translated into French and German. He also wrote about financial matters and published Refutation of Certain Misrepresentations Relative to the Nature and Influence of Bank Notes (1801), The Present Critical State of the Country Developed (1826), and Facts Relative to the Bank of England (1832?). The 1841 Census shows him living with Mary Ann at Sloane Terrace in Chelsea, London. He died at home in Chapel Place, Fulham, on 15 Feb. 1847 and was buried on 20 Feb. at St. Mary’s in Fulham. (ODNB 13 Dec. 2024; ancestry.co.uk 13 Dec. 2024; findmypast.co.uk 13 Dec. 2024; EN1; EN2) SR
Other Names:
- T. S. Surr