John William Robertson Scott CH (born in

Wigton Wigton is a market town in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies just outside the Lake District in the borough of Allerdale. Wigton is at the centre of the Solway Plain, between the Caldbeck Fells ...

, Cumberland on 20 April 1866, died

Idbury Idbury is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold Hills in Oxfordshire, about southeast of Stow-on-the-Wold in neighbouring Gloucestershire. The parish includes the hamlets of Bould and Foscot. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's popula ...

, Oxfordshire on 21 December 1962) was a British journalist and author, best known for his writings on rural affairs, and a

Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded on 4 June 1917 by King George V as a reward for outstanding achievements. Founded on the same date as the Order of the British Empire, it is sometimes ...

.John Cripps, "Scott, John William Robertson (1866–1962)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; accessed 13 Feb 2013

Family

His father was David Young Crozier Scott (1844–1887), a commercial traveller and advocate of

temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture *Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...

, and his mother was Janet Robertson (1843–1905). He was partly educated in

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

schools and his parents attended Quaker and non-conformist worship. When a child, his family moved to Carlisle and then Birmingham, when his father became head of the

Independent Order of Good Templars The International Organisation of Good Templars (IOGT; founded as the Independent Order of Good Templars), whose international body is known as Movendi International, is a fraternal organization which is part of the temperance movement, promotin ...

. He married Elspet Keith, a writer and oriental scholar, in 1906. They had no children.

Career

After freelancing for various publications including the ''

Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', he received a staff position on the ''

Birmingham Gazette The ''Birmingham Gazette'', known for much of its existence as ''Aris's Birmingham Gazette'', was a newspaper that was published and circulated in Birmingham, England, from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. Founded as a weekly publicatio ...

'' but left when he indicated he would not write any articles supporting the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

or its causes. In 1887 he started work at the Pall Mall Gazette under

W. T. Stead William Thomas Stead (5 July 184915 April 1912) was a British newspaper editor who, as a pioneer of investigative journalism, became a controversial figure of the Victorian era. Stead published a series of hugely influential campaigns whilst ed ...

and later Edward T. Cook, following Cook to the ''

Westminster Gazette ''The Westminster Gazette'' was an influential Liberal newspaper based in London. It was known for publishing sketches and short stories, including early works by Raymond Chandler, Anthony Hope, D. H. Lawrence, Katherine Mansfield, and Saki, an ...

'' in 1893. In 1899 he moved to the ''

Daily Chronicle The 'Daily Chronicle' was a British newspaper that was published from 1872 to 1930 when it merged with the ''Daily News (UK), Daily News'' to become the ''News Chronicle''. Foundation The ''Daily Chronicle'' was developed by Edward Lloyd (publis ...

'' but resigned over his opposition to the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

, which his proprietors supported. As a result, he moved to the country,

Great Canfield Great Canfield is a village and a civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. The village, which sits at the south-east edge of its civil parish, is approximately south-west from the small town of Great Dunmow, and north-west fr ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, and began to write on rural matters for the ''

Country Gentleman ''The Country Gentleman'' (1852–1955) was an American agricultural magazine founded in 1852 in Albany, New York, by Luther Tucker.Frank Luther Mott (1938A History of American Magazines 1850–1865"The Country Gentleman", page 432, Harvard Unive ...

'', ''

World's Work ''The World's Work'' (1900–1932) was a monthly magazine that covered national affairs from a pro-business point of view. It was produced by the publishing house Doubleday, Page and Company, which provided the first editor, Walter Hines Page. Th ...

'' and '' The Field''. He produced numerous books and articles, setting out country life for readers in towns and cities. He moved to Japan for a few years after the outbreak of World War I. He returned in 1922 and becoming involved with the

National Federation of Women's Institutes The Women's Institute (WI) is a community-based organisation for women in the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. The movement was founded in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada, by Erland and Janet Lee with Adelaide Hoodless being th ...

. In 1923 he moved to

, Oxfordshire, in the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Jur ...

. There he founded the journal ''

The Countryman ''The Western Mail'', or ''Western Mail'', was the name of two weekly newspapers published in Perth, Western Australia. Published 1885–1955 The first ''Western Mail'' was published on 19 December 1885 by Charles Harper and John Winthro ...

'', which he edited until 1947, despite selling it in 1943. He aimed to inform towns people of the realities about rural life, believing knowledge of these topics was fundamental to living a good life. He was also involved in local government and housing policy. He was a magistrate and a county councillor and for many years a committee member of the advisory committee of the Ministry of Health.

Books

His best-selling book was ''England's Green and Pleasant Land'' (1925) "a scorching condemnation of the agricultural workers' conditions of life" which described problems with rural housing. Despite its harsh portrait, it did much to promote an idea of rural life as idyll in England. There was a second edition in 1931 and a revised and extended edition in 1947.''England's Green and Pleasant Land''. (Penguin Books; 608.) Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1947; p. iv He also wrote ''The Foundations of Japan'' based on his travels to the Orient.

Awards

He was made a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in 1947 and received an honorary MA from

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in 1949.

References

External links

* *
Article on Idbury.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson Scott, J. W. Scottish journalists Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour 1866 births 1962 deaths Scottish non-fiction writers Rural society in the United Kingdom