John Dix or John Ross (21 September 1811 – after 1863) was a British writer and poet in Great Britain and America. An alcoholic, he wrote a noted biography of
Thomas Chatterton
Thomas Chatterton (20 November 1752 – 24 August 1770) was an English poet whose precocious talents ended in suicide at age 17. He was an influence on Romantic artists of the period such as Shelley, Keats, Wordsworth and Coleridge.
Althoug ...
and he wrote "In Our Own Dear Homes Again" during the American Civil War.
Biography
Dix was born in
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 ...
. He said that his mother was taught by Chatterton's sister - Mary Newton. Dix took to poetry writing about sites in Bristol which were published in the ''Bristol Mirror'' and later included in an anthology titled "Lays of Home". In 1832 he married Sussanah Moore whose father boiled soap at Bedminster. They started a business in
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
in Somerset, but this soon failed. He had three children, two born in Somerset, and a son born in Bristol in 1837. The son was named
William Chatterton Dix
William Chatterton Dix (14 June 1837 – 9 September 1898) was an English writer of hymns and carols. He was born in Bristol, the son of John Dix, a local surgeon, who wrote ''The Life of Chatterton'' the poet, a book of ''Pen Pictures of Popul ...
in honour of his latest publication which was a ''Life of Thomas Chatterton''. The book contained not only a biography but many of Chatterton's poems. This book contained some of Chatterton's unpublished early work but it was said to be full of half truths and even had a now discredited portrait.
Dix quickly took classes to study medicine at the expense of his friends and obtained work as a surgeon in
Monmouth
Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. I ...
just over the border in Wales. His need for alcohol meant that his medical business failed and he took again to writing poems in 1837 that were combined with engravings by
Edward Villiers Rippingille
Edward Villiers Rippingille (c. 1790–1859) was an English oil painting, oil painter and watercolourist who was a member of the informal group of artists which has come to be known as the Bristol School. In that group he was a particula ...
to create ''Progress of Intemperance''.
Dix served time in
Cardiff Gaol
Cardiff Gaol was a prison located on St. Mary Street, Cardiff, Wales. Prior to its construction, people were imprisoned in Cardiff Castle.
Background
Cardiff's original court and gaol were located within the walls of Cardiff Castle. Whilst th ...
for debt despite applying to the
Royal Literary Fund The Royal Literary Fund (RLF) is a benevolent fund that gives assistance to published British writers in financial difficulties. Founded in 1790, and granted a royal charter in 1818, the Fund has helped an extensive roll of authors through its long ...
. His claims of employment around this time included editor of the '' Monmouth Beacon'', esquire, bodyguard and traveller.
In 1845 his biography of Chatterton was published in Boston, Massachusetts after he had worked his passage as
ship's surgeon
A naval surgeon, or less commonly ship's doctor, is the person responsible for the health of the ship's company aboard a warship. The term appears often in reference to Royal Navy's medical personnel during the Age of Sail.
Ancient uses
Specialis ...
. By 1847 he was back again in London asking for money from the Royal Literary Fund and despite taking a pledge of temperance he was ill and alcoholic. Dix's writings included fantasies of his friendship with
Hannah More
Hannah More (2 February 1745 – 7 September 1833) was an English religious writer, philanthropist, poet and playwright in the circle of Johnson, Reynolds and Garrick, who wrote on moral and religious subjects. Born in Bristol, she taught at a s ...
and
Robert Southey
Robert Southey ( or ; 12 August 1774 – 21 March 1843) was an English poet of the Romantic school, and Poet Laureate from 1813 until his death. Like the other Lake Poets, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Southey began as a ra ...
and also longer descriptions of major poets like
William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Ballads'' (1798).
Wordsworth's ' ...
. Actually one of Dix's poems, ''Church Wreck'' had once "ill advisedly" been compared to Wordsworth.
By 1850 Dix was back in America writing books on temperance, but having abandoned his family in England and having taken the name John Ross and John Ross Dix. Dix was writing also on religious subjects. In 1860 he published ''The New Apostles'', an attack on the Catholic Apostolic Church.
Based on this book, he had a theological dispute with Edward Eddis, member of the
Catholic Apostolic Church
The Catholic Apostolic Church (CAC), also known as the Irvingian Church, is a Christian denomination and Protestant sect which originated in Scotland around 1831 and later spread to Germany and the United States.