John Bicknell, the elder (baptised 1746 – 27 March 1787), was an English barrister and writer. He was co-author with

Thomas Day Thomas Day may refer to: Sports * Tom Day (rugby union) (1907–1980), Welsh rugby union player * Tom Day (American football) (1935–2000), American football player * Tom Day (footballer) (born 1997), English footballer Others * Thomas Day (wri ...

of the

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

poem '' The Dying Negro'' from 1773. Bicknell has also been credited with ''Musical Travels through England'', a pseudonymous satire on

Charles Burney Charles Burney (7 April 1726 – 12 April 1814) was an English music historian, composer and musician. He was the father of the writers Frances Burney and Sarah Burney, of the explorer James Burney, and of Charles Burney, a classicist a ...

Life

The second son of Robert Bicknell of the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

, he was admitted to the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

in 1761. He was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

in 1769. Thomas Day was a friend from their time at

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

. Bicknell participated in the late 1760s in the initial stage of Day's plan to train a suitable wife from himself, at

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

orphanage. Bicknell befriended

John Laurens John Laurens (October 28, 1754 – August 27, 1782) was an American soldier and statesman from Province of South Carolina, South Carolina during the American Revolutionary War, best known for his criticism of slavery and his efforts to help recr ...

, then a law student in London of his brother Charles Bicknell, around 1774. Considered a rake, his attitude to his legal career was negligent, and he spent time on writing. He was a

commissioner of bankruptcy A Commissioner of Bankruptcy (England and Wales) was, from 1571 to 1883, an official appointed (initially by commission of the Lord Chancellor) to administer the estate of a bankrupt with full power to dispose of all his lands and tenements.Commi ...

. Bicknell died on 27 March 1787 four weeks after suffering a stroke.

Works

''The Dying Negro'' (1773) is thought to have originated in a draft by Bicknell, then passed to Day who worked it up for publication. Some of his contemporaries credited Bicknell with the ''Musical Travels'' published in 1774 under the pseudonym "Joel Collier". This attribution is also accepted by modern scholars, and was supported soon after Bicknell's death, by

William Seward William Henry Seward (May 16, 1801 – October 10, 1872) was an American politician who served as United States Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869, and earlier served as governor of New York and as a United States Senator. A determined oppon ...

, who knew Bicknell and introduced

James Boswell James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (; 29 October 1740 (New Style, N.S.) – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of his friend and older contemporary the Englis ...

to him, in 1786. It was endorsed by

Francis Douce Francis Douce ( ; 175730 March 1834) was a British antiquary and museum curator. Biography Douce was born in London. His father was a clerk in Chancery. After completing his education he entered his father's office, but soon quit it to devote ...

and John Thomas Smith. Seward also identified a number of short satirical pieces in newspapers, that had been attributed to

George Steevens George Steevens (10 May 1736 – 22 January 1800) was an English Shakespearean commentator. Biography Early life He was born at Poplar, the son of a captain and later director of the East India Company. He was educated at Eton College and at ...

, to Bicknell.

Family

Bicknell on 16 April 1784 married, at St Philip's Church, Birmingham,

Sabrina Sidney Sabrina Bicknell (1757 – 8 September 1843), better known as Sabrina Sidney, was a British woman abandoned at the Foundling Hospital in London as a baby, and taken in at the age of 12 by author Thomas Day, who tried to mould her into his pe ...

, the girl he had selected with Thomas Day at Shrewsbury about 15 years earlier. She had spent some time living with Bicknell's mother. After Day dropped his plan to marry her, she had remained a ward of

Richard Lovell Edgeworth Richard Lovell Edgeworth (31 May 1744 – 13 June 1817) was an Anglo-Irish politician, writer and inventor. Biography Edgeworth was born in Pierrepont Street, Bath, England, son of Richard Edgeworth senior, and great-grandson of Sir Sal ...

, and lived in the West Midlands. After Bicknell's death she became housekeeper and manager for Charles Burney the younger, a schoolfellow of her late husband at Charterhouse. There were two sons of the marriage, John Laurens Bicknell and Henry Edgeworth Bicknell, young boys on their father's death. Sabrina as widow had financial support from Day and Edgeworth, and

George Hardinge George Hardinge (1743–1816) was an English judge, writer and Member of Parliament. Life He was born on 22 June (new style) 1743 at Canbury, a manorhouse in Kingston upon Thames. He was the third but eldest surviving son of Nicholas Harding ...

and

Anna Seward Anna Seward (12 December 1742 ld style: 1 December 1742./ref>Often wrongly given as 1747.25 March 1809) was an English Romantic poet, often called the Swan of Lichfield. She benefited from her father's progressive views on female education. Li ...

organised collections for her. John Laurens Bicknell, educated at Burney's school, became a solicitor and

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

. Charles Bicknell, John's younger brother and solicitor to the Admiralty and the Prince Regent, became father-in-law to

John Constable John Constable (; 11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English landscape painter in the Romanticism, Romantic tradition. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for revolutionising the genre of landscape painting with his pictures of Dedha ...

. His eldest daughter Maria Elizabeth Bicknell married Constable in 1816.

External links

''The Dying Negro'', third edition 1775

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bicknell, John Year of birth missing 1787 deaths English barristers English male poets English satirists