Edward George Ballard (1791–1860) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

miscellaneous writer.

Biography

Ballard was born on 22 April 1791 in

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

, the son of Edward Ballard, an alderman of Salisbury, Wiltshire and Elizabeth, daughter of G. F. Benson of that city. He obtained a situation in the Stamp Office in 1809, and, having resigned this appointment, entered the

Excise Office His or Her Majesty's Excise refers to 'inland' duties levied on articles at the time of their manufacture. Excise duty was first raised in England in 1643. Like HM Customs (a far older branch of the revenue services), the Excise was administered ...

, which he also left of his own accord in 1817 in which year he became a contributor to ''Woollers' Reasoner''. The following year he married Mary Ann Shadgett (c. 1798–1820), and wrote several criticisms and verses for the ''Weekly Review'', then edited by his brother-in-law, William Shadgett. He contributed to the ''Literary Chronicle'' and the ''Imperial Magazine'' under the signature E. G. B., and to the ''Literary Magnet'' and the ''World of Fashion'' under that of Γ. He published in 1825 a volume entitled ''A New Series of Original Poems'' and a few years after another entitled ''Microscopic Amusements''. He was exceedingly fond of research. Robert Benson, his cousin, and Henry Hatcher received no small help from him in writing their ''History of Salisbury'' (1843), which formed part of Hoare's ''Wiltshire''. He helped

John Gough Nichols John Gough Nichols (1806–1873) was an English painter and antiquary, the third generation in a family publishing business with strong connection to learned antiquarianism. Life The eldest son of John Bowyer Nichols, he was born at his fathe ...

in the works undertaken for the

Camden Society The Camden Society was a text publication society founded in London in 1838 to publish early historical and literary materials, both unpublished manuscripts and new editions of rare printed books. It was named after the 16th-century antiquary an ...

. In 1848 he brought out some parts of a continuation of

John Strype John Strype (1 November 1643 – 11 December 1737) was an English clergyman, historian and biographer from London. He became a merchant when settling in Petticoat Lane. In his twenties, he became perpetual curate of Theydon Bois, Essex and lat ...

's ''Ecclesiastical Annals'' in a publication called the ''Surplice'', but this paper and Ballard's scheme soon came to an end. He wrote occasionally in

The Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term ''magazine'' (from the French ''magazine'' ...

, and in

Notes and Queries ''Notes and Queries'', also styled ''Notes & Queries'', is a long-running quarterly scholarly journal that publishes short articles related to " English language and literature, lexicography, history, and scholarly antiquarianism".From the inne ...

. He died at Islington on 14 February 1860, leaving a son,

Edward Ballard Edward Ballard (15 April 1820 – 19 January 1897) was a 19th-century English physician, best known for his reports on the unsanitary conditions in which most of Victorian England lived. Ballard was born in Islington, Middlesex, the son Edward ...

, a medical inspector and author of several medical works, and a daughter.

References

* ''The Gentleman's Magazine'', Second Series, volume viii, 1860 * UK Ballard Genealogy & Heraldry www.paul-ballard.com/index * Ballard, Edward George. ''A New Series of Original Poems''. 1825 * Ballard, Edward George. ''Microscopic Amusements''. 1828 * ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ballard, Edward George 1791 births 1860 deaths 19th-century English writers People from Islington (district)