John Lavicount Anderdon (5 April 1792 – 8 March 1874) was an English writer, noted for his fishing literature and later his Christian publications.

Biography

The third son of

John Proctor Anderdon John Proctor Anderdon (1760–1846) was an English merchant, banker and slave-owner, known also as an art collector. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1811. Life He was the son of Ferdinando Anderdon and his wife Mary Hobart, and gran ...

, he was born at

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

on 5 April 1792. After passing some time in the preparatory school of Dr. Nicholas at

Ealing Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. Ealing is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Ealing was histor ...

, he was removed to Harrow, but was taken from that establishment at a comparatively early age for office life in the business of Manning & Anderdon, in which firm he became a partner in 1823. He married Anna Maria, the second daughter of Wm. Manning, M.P. in 1816. Henry Edward Manning was his brother in law. At the general election of 1818 he contested the borough of Penryn, in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, but was defeated, probably more to the regret of his friends than of himself. Anderdon was an enthusiastic fisherman, and a walking tour through

Dovedale Dovedale is a valley in the Peak District of England. The land is owned by the National Trust and attracts a million visitors annually. The valley was cut by the River Dove, Central England, River Dove and runs for just over between Milldale ...

, the country of

Charles Cotton Charles Cotton (28 April 1630 – 16 February 1687) was an English poet and writer, best known for translating the work of Michel de Montaigne from the French, for his contributions to ''The Compleat Angler'', and for the influential ''The Comp ...

, one of the earliest professors of the art of

angling Angling is a fishing technique that uses a fish hook or "angle" (from Old English ''angol'') attached to a fishing line to tether individual fish in the mouth. The fishing line is usually manipulated via a fishing rod, although rodless techniqu ...

, suggested the compilation of a volume (printed at first in 1845 for private circulation, but subsequently in 1847 for sale) on ‘The River Dove: with some quiet Thoughts on the happy Practice of Angling.’ Written in the orthodox dialogue of fishing literature and in the style of Isaac Walton, it contained many anecdotes of Cotton and his country life, with hints on the best mode of following his favourite pursuit. A series of views of Cotton's seat and the river Dove were taken under Anderdon's instructions and issued with a preface by his brother-in-law, Mr. F. Manning, in 1866. His next work was a sympathetic life of Bishop Ken, which was published under the pseudonym of ‘A Layman’ in 1851, and reprinted in 1854. He followed up this memoir of the saintly Ken with a selection, entitled ‘Approach to the Holy Altar’ (1852), from Ken's two devotional works, and a reprint (1852) of his ‘Exposition of the Apostles' Creed.’ For many years he was engaged in preparing, with copious extracts from divines of all kinds, a narrative of the life of our Lord. It was published anonymously in 1861 under the title of ‘The Messiah,’ and the substance of the work was reissued in 1866 in ‘The Devout Christian's Help to Meditation on the Life of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ Anderdon died on 8 March 1874. A posthumous work (‘Geron, the Old Man in Search of Paradise’), a collection of short discourses on a holy life, was published in 1877, with a biographical notice by Rev. George Williams.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderdon, John 1792 births 1874 deaths Angling writers British fishers English religious writers Writers from Bristol English male non-fiction writers