John Lorimer Auden MC (23 August 1894 – 30 March 1959), was an English

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

, deputy coroner for

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

and a territorial soldier who served in the First World War. He was a collector of natural history. John Lorimer Auden was born in 1894 at

Repton Repton is a village and civil parish in the South Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, England, located on the edge of the River Trent floodplain, about north of Swadlincote. The population taken at the 2001 Census was 2,707, increasing to 2,8 ...

, Derbyshire. His father was Thomas Edward Auden (1864–1935), also a solicitor and deputy coroner for Staffordshire. The fortunes of the Auden family were established by William Auden (1726–1794) based on ownership of

collieries Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

and

ironwork Ironwork is any weapon, artwork, utensil, or architectural feature made of iron, especially one used for decoration. There are two main types of ironwork: wrought iron and cast iron. While the use of iron dates as far back as 4000BC, it was th ...

s at

Rowley Regis Rowley Regis ( ) is a town and former municipal borough in Sandwell in the county of the West Midlands, England. It encompasses the three Sandwell council wards of Blackheath, Cradley Heath and Old Hill, and Rowley. At the 2011 census, the comb ...

. They were also aided by the marriage of the Reverend Thomas Auden (1836–1920) to the daughter of William Hopkins, a Staffordshire landowner, who held the patronage of St Michael's,

Church Broughton Church Broughton is a village and civil parish in Derbyshire, to the west of Derby. It has a church ( Saint Michael and All Angels) and a Methodist chapel (1828). Badway Green is a piece of common land within the parish.Commons Registration A ...

and

St John the Divine, Horninglow St John the Divine is the Church of England parish church situated in the suburb of Horninglow, north west of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire. It is part of the Diocese of Lichfield. The church was built in 1866, designed by Edward Holmes. ...

. A number of clergy followed but Auden's father, Thomas Edward, was of a different mold enjoying a "Huntin', Shootin' and Fishin' existence, blasting away at stags each year in Mull in the Hebrides". He was first cousin to the poet

W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...

. Auden was educated at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. Founded in 1843 for the sons of Church ...

from 1908–1911 where his academic results were not encouraging. He passed his law examinations and joined the family firm of solicitors after his war service. He was commissioned in the 6th Battalion,

North Staffordshire Regiment The North Staffordshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, which was in existence between 1881 and 1959. The 64th (2nd Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot was created on 21 April 1758 from the 2nd Battali ...

in 1913 and fought in the First World War. He was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

in 1916.The London Gazette 18 August 1916 Supplement: 29713 Page: 8227
"Lt. John Lorimer Auden, N. Staff. R. For conspicuous gallantry and coolness in action. Under heavy fire he reached the enemy's trench with a handful of men and lay under the parapet all day until dark. He then assisted several wounded men to get back and returned himself with a useful report." Auden married Joan Constance Moxham, daughter of a Swansea architect, at

All Souls, Langham Place All Souls Church is a Conservative evangelicalism in the United Kingdom, conservative evangelical Anglican Church, Anglican church in central London, situated in Langham Place, London, Langham Place in Marylebone, at the north end of Regent Street ...

in July 1922. The couple had one child, John Anthony Lorimer Auden, born in 1926. After they divorced he married Marie Charlotte Howard in 1932. He was an assiduous observer and collector of natural history. The bulk of his collection of birds, including purchased "

Hastings Rarities The Hastings Rarities affair is a case of statistically demonstrated ornithological fraud that misled the bird world for decades in the 20th century. The discovery of the long-running hoax shocked ornithologists. The Hastings Rarities were a se ...

", was presented to

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BM&AG) is a museum and art gallery in Birmingham, England. It has a collection of international importance covering fine art, ceramics, metalwork, jewellery, natural history, archaeology, ethnography, local ...

Repton School Repton School is a 13–18 Mixed-sex education, co-educational, Independent school (United Kingdom), independent, Day school, day and boarding school in the English Public school (United Kingdom), public school tradition, in Repton, Derbyshire, ...

in 1962 and his collection of land and freshwater

mollusc Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...

s is held by the

Ludlow Ludlow () is a market town in Shropshire, England. The town is significant in the history of the Welsh Marches and in relation to Wales. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road which bypasses the town. The t ...

Museum Resource Centre.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Auden, John English solicitors 1894 births 1959 deaths British Army personnel of World War I Recipients of the Military Cross North Staffordshire Regiment officers People educated at Marlborough College English natural history collectors People from Repton 20th-century English lawyers