Author: John Lawton Owen
Author: John Lawton Owen (1847–1898)
Biography: Working-class poet, journalist, and author. John Lawton Owen was born around 1847 in Altrincham, Cheshire, the son of Joseph and Hannah Owen. He worked as a decorator and painter, eventually running his own company. At the same time, he contributed poetry to newspapers and published one collection of verse in 1873. In the 1880s, his business went bankrupt. By the 1890s, he had moved to the London area where he worked as a journalist and wrote three novels. In the words of an obituary, "he died in harness, for he was engaged on two stories for serial issue" in late 1898 in London. It appears Owen had at least two run-ins with the law: in 1879 for theft for which he got 6 months; and in 1883 for forgery and fraud for which he served twelve months.
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References: Bath Chronicle (15 December 1898); British Census (1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891); Reilly
Fiction Titles:
- The Great Jekyll Diamond: A Romance of Two Prodigals. 1 vol. London: Roxburghe Press, 1897.
- Railway Romances. 1 vol. London: Cotton Press, 1897.
- Seven Nights with Satan. 1 vol. London: Greening and Co., 1898.