James Yeowell (1802–1875) was an English antiquary.

Life

Yeowell was born about 1803 in London. He is said to have been employed in early life under the

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

Shoreditch Shoreditch is a district in the East End of London in England, and forms the southern part of the London Borough of Hackney. Neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets are also perceived as part of the area. In the 16th century, Shoreditch was an impor ...

, and to have worked at indexing and related work for booksellers. Soon after the establishment by

William John Thoms William John Thoms (16 November 1803 – 15 August 1885) was a British writer credited with coining the term "folklore" in 1846. Thoms's investigation of folklore and myth led to a later career of debunking longevity myths, and he was a pioneer ...

of ''

Notes and Queries ''Notes and Queries'', also styled ''Notes & Queries'', is a long-running quarterly scholarly journal that publishes short articles related to " English language and literature, lexicography, history, and scholarly antiquarianism".From the inne ...

'', Yeowell became sub-editor, and he filled the position for more than twenty years, retiring in September 1872. During this period Yeowell supplied by research at the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

the answers which appeared each week under the heading of ‘Queries with Answers.’ He lived at first in

Pentonville Pentonville is an area on the northern fringe of Central London, in the London Borough of Islington. It is located north-northeast of Charing Cross on the Inner Ring Road. Pentonville developed in the northwestern edge of the ancient parish o ...

, near the

Sadler's Wells Theatre Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-seat ...

, and then at

Barnsbury Barnsbury is an area of north London in the London Borough of Islington, within the N1 and N7 postal districts. The name is a syncopated form of ''Bernersbury'' (1274), being so called after the Berners family: powerful medieval manorial ...

. On his retirement from ‘Notes and Queries’ he was nominated a poor brother at the

London Charterhouse The London Charterhouse is a historic complex of buildings in Farringdon, London, dating back to the 14th century. It occupies land to the north of Charterhouse Square, and lies within the London Borough of Islington. It was originally built ( ...

by the

Duke of Buccleuch Duke of Buccleuch (pronounced ), formerly also spelt Duke of Buccleugh, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland created twice on 20 April 1663, first for James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth and second suo jure for his wife Anne Scott, 4th Cou ...

at the suggestion of Thoms. He died at the Charterhouse on 10 December 1875, and was buried on the western side of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...

two days later. His grave (no.21049) no longer has a headstone. He was ‘probably the last nonjuror, if not the last Jacobite, in England’Doran, London in Jacobite Times, ii. 354.

Works

Yeowell was the author of: * ‘Chronicles of the Ancient British Church anterior to the Saxon Era,’ new ed. 1847; it originally appeared during 1839 in a monthly periodical. * ‘A Literary Antiquary: Memoir of William Oldys, with his Diary, Notes from Adversaria, and an Account of the London Libraries,’ 1862; this came out in ‘Notes and Queries’ during 1861 and 1862. He edited in 1853 the poetical works of

Sir Thomas Wyatt Sir Thomas Wyatt (150311 October 1542) was a 16th-century English politician, ambassador, and lyric poet credited with introducing the sonnet to English literature. He was born at Allington Castle near Maidstone in Kent, though the family was ...

and of

Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1516/1517 – 19 January 1547), Order of the Garter, KG, was an English nobleman, politician and poet. He was one of the founders of English Renaissance poetry and was the last known person executed at the instan ...

for the Aldine series; compiled, with other index work, the general indexes to the first three series of ‘Notes and Queries,’ and an index to

Agnes Strickland Agnes Strickland (18 July 1796 – 8 July 1874) was an English historical writer and poet. She is particularly remembered for her ''Lives of the Queens of England'' (12 vols, 1840–1848). Biography The daughter of Thomas Strickland and his wi ...

's ‘Queens of England;’ and he assisted

Richard Griffin, 3rd Baron Braybrooke Richard Griffin, 3rd Baron Braybrooke (26 September 1783 – 13 March 1858), known as Richard Neville until 1797 and as the Hon. Richard Griffin between 1797 and 1825, was a British Whig politician and literary figure. Background and educati ...

in the fourth edition of the

Diary of Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...

(1854).

Legacy

Yeowell's books were sold with other collections by Sotheby, Wilkinson, & Hodge on 12 November 1873 and five following days. His collections for the biography of Englishmen went to the British Museum; they consisted of eleven folio volumes, thirty-seven octavo volumes, and eight parcels.

References

* ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Yeowell, James 1803 births 1875 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery Writers from London 19th-century English writers 19th-century antiquarians English antiquarians