John Edgell Rickword, MC was an English poet, journalist and literary critic who, remarkably, achieved most of his best work with only one eye. He had contracted a severe infection in his left eye at the age of 21 which resulted in it being removed. He is one of the many British war poets whose collected works from that period were published in ...
John Byrom was a Fellow of the Royal Society, an English poet and composer of hymns, and a man also credited with the invention of a system of shorthand that was considered revolutionary in its time. In some reference books he is also known as John Byrom of Manchester or John Byrom of Kersal. Some accounts say that he was born in a half-timbered coaching inn ...
John Cunningham was an 18th century Scottish poet, actor and playwright, although he was actually born in Ireland, and lived most of his life in the north east of England. He was born some time during the year 1729 in Dublin to parents of Scottish origins. They had suffered a catastrophic swing in their social standing due to financial problems which resulted in bankruptcy. ...
John Buchan, was a distinguished writer of novels and poetry. He was better known for gripping adventure novels like The Thirty Nine Steps rather than his poetry, this story being adapted for the cinema and television screens on a number of occasions. As a politician he served the Scottish Unionist party for many years and, for the last five years of his life, ...
John Laurence Rentoul was an Irish-born Australian poet and Presbyterian minister. He was born on the 6th July 1846 in the small village of Garvagh in County Londonderry, the son of a clergyman. He was given a decent education culminating in the award of a Bachelors’ degree from Queen’s College, Belfast in 1867. He followed this with his Masters’ the following year, gaining first ...
