John Sterling (author)

John Sterling (author)

John Sterling (20 July 180618 September 1844), was a British author.

He was born at Kames Castle on the Isle of Bute. He belonged to a family of Scottish origin which had settled in Ireland during the Cromwellian period. His father was Edward Sterling.

After studying for one year at the University of Glasgow, John Sterling in 1824 entered Trinity College, Cambridge, where he had for tutor Julius Charles Hare. At Cambridge he took a distinguished part in the debates of the union, and, became a member of the Cambridge Apostles, forming friendships with Frederick Denison Maurice and Richard Trench. He removed to Trinity Hall with the intention of graduating in law, but left the university without taking a degree. During the next four years he resided chiefly in London, employing himself actively in literature and making a number of literary friends. With Maurice he purchased the "Athenaeum" magazine in 1828 from James Silk Buckingham, but the enterprise was not a pecuniary success. He also formed an intimacy with the Spanish revolutionist General Torrijos, in whose unfortunate expedition he took an active interest. But he did not accompany it, as he was kept in England by his marriage to Susannah, daughter of Lieut.-General Barton.

Shortly after his marriage in 1830 symptoms of pulmonary disease induced him to take up his residence in the island of St Vincent, where he had inherited some property, and he remained there fifteen months before returning to England. After spending some time on the Continent in June 1834 he was ordained and became curate at Hurstmonceux, where his old tutor Julius Hare was vicar. Acting on the advice of his physician he resigned his clerical duties in the following February, but, according to Carlyle, the primary cause was a divergence from the opinions of the Church. There remained to him the "resource of the pen," but, having to "live all the rest of his days as in continual flight for his very existence," his literary achievements were necessarily fragmentary.

He published in 1833 "Arthur Coningsby", a novel, which attracted little attention, and his "Poems" (1839), the "Election, a Poem" (1841), and "Strafford", a tragedy (1843), were not more successful. He had, however, established a connection in 1837 with "Blackwood's Magazine", to which he contributed a variety of papers and several tales of extraordinary promise not fulfilled in his more considerable undertakings. Among these papers were "The Onyx Ring" and "The Palace of Morgana." In 1841 he moved to Falmouth, and lectured to the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society. [Eric W. Nye, ‘Sterling, John (1806–1844)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/26408 accessed 16 Nov 2007] ] He died at Ventnor on 18 September 1844, his wife having died in the preceding year.

His son, Major-General John Barton Sterling (1840–1926), after entering the navy, went into the army in 1861, and had a distinguished career (wounded at Tel-el-Kebir in 1882), both as a soldier and as a writer on military subjects. He commanded the Coldstream Guards until his retirement in 1901. He was a member of the Athenaeum Club and the Royal Yacht Squadron.

John Sterling's papers were entrusted to the joint care of Thomas Carlyle and Archdeacon Hare. "Essays and Tales, by John Sterling collected and edited, with a memoir of his life, by Julius Charles Hare", appeared in 1848 in two volumes. So dissatisfied was Carlyle with the memoir that he resolved to give his own testimony about his friend, and his vivid "Life" (1851) has perpetuated the memory of Sterling more than any of the latter's own writings.

External links

* [http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=mediatype%3A(texts)%20-creator%3AKingsley%20-contributor%3Agutenberg%20AND%20(subject%3A%22Sterling%2C%20John%2C%201806-1844%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Sterling%2C%20John%2C%201806-1844%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22John%20Sterling%22%20OR%20title%3A%22John%20Sterling%22%20OR%20description%3A%22John%20Sterling%22) Works by or about John Sterling] at Internet Archive (scanned books original editions color illustrated)
* Project Gutenberg e-text of [http://www.gutenberg.net/etext/1085 Life of John Sterling] by Thomas Carlyle

References

*1911


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • John Sterling — may refer to:*John Sterling (author) (1806 ndash;1844), British *John Sterling (Heinlein), fictional character *John Sterling (sportscaster) (born 1948), radio announcer for the New York Yankees *John A. Sterling (1857 1918), American politician… …   Wikipedia

  • Sterling — may refer to: * Sterling College (Kansas), a college in Sterling, Kansas, USA * Sterling College (Vermont), a small college in northern Vermont, USA * Sterling silver, a grade of silver * Pound sterling, the currency of the United Kingdom *… …   Wikipedia

  • The Life of John Sterling — was a biography of the Scottish author John Sterling (1806 1844), written by his friend, the Scottish essayist and historian, Thomas Carlyle. It was first published in 1851.John Sterling was a colleague and friend of Carlyle, but achieved far… …   Wikipedia

  • John Gardner — may refer to:Arts and literature*John Gardner (composer) (born 1917), British composer *John Gardner (novelist) (1933 ndash;1982), American novelist and educator, author of Grendel *John Gardner (thriller writer) (1926 ndash;2007), British author …   Wikipedia

  • John D. Rockefeller, Jr. — John Davison Rockefeller, Jr. John D. Rockefeller Jr. Born January 29, 1874(1874 01 29) Cleveland, Ohio, U.S …   Wikipedia

  • John Banim — (April 3, 1798 August 30, 1842), Irish novelist, sometimes called the Scott of Ireland, was born at Kilkenny. In his thirteenth year he entered Kilkenny College and devoted himself specially to drawing and miniature painting. He pursued his… …   Wikipedia

  • John D. Rockefeller — For the Rockefeller family, see Rockefeller family. For other people named John D. Rockefeller, see John D. Rockefeller (disambiguation) …   Wikipedia

  • Sterling E. Lanier — Sterling Edmund Lanier (December 18, 1927 – June 28, 2007), was an editor, science fiction author and sculptor, perhaps best known as the book editor who single handedly championed the publication of Frank Herbert’s bestselling Dune . The most… …   Wikipedia

  • John Henry Newman — John Henry Cardinal Newman, CO (February 21, 1801 ndash; August 11, 1890) was an Anglican who was received into the Roman Catholic Church in 1845. He was later made a cardinal and, in 1991, was proclaimed Venerable . In early life he was a major… …   Wikipedia

  • John Hutchison — is a Canadian inventor known for his claims of inventions and discoveries of a variety of extraordinary phenomena, which other researchers and often Hutchison himself have been unable to duplicate. Hutchison effect In 1979, Hutchison (Born… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”