Author: Waddell, John Hunter
Biography:
WADDELL, John Hunter (1771-1844: ancestry.com)
His name is distinctive and although records are sketchy, it seems very likely that he was the son of Henry and Elizabeth Waddell born on 3 Oct. 1771 in Canterbury who became an apprentice in the Stationers' Company in London and died in in the borough of Southwark, being buried at St. Mary, Newington, on 16 Feb. 1844. If so, it seems that in his forties he spent some time in New York, where he attempted without success to have a tragedy accepted for the stage and published poems that were both inspired by and contributed to the newspapers. Three doggerel poems published separately are too short for this bibliography: The Dartmoor Massacre (1815), Waddell, to Coleman (1819), and The Theatre (1819)--the first two written explicitly in response to stories in the press. A Fair Epistle addresses reproachfully the actor who rejected the poet's "heroic verses." Waddell died of "apoplexy" in the Surrey Asylum on 9 Feb. 1844. (ancestry.com 9 Dec. 2020; findmypast.com 9 Dec. 2020; death cert.; information from AA) HJ
Other Names:
- John H. Waddell