Vane Ireton Shaftesbury St John (19 August 1838 - 20 December 1911) was a writer of boys' stories and Penny dreadful popular serial literature.

Early life

Vane Ireton Shaftesbury St John was born in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, the son of journalist, author and traveller

James Augustus St. John James Augustus St. John (24 September 1795 – 22 September 1875), was a British journalist, author, and traveller. Life in Wales James was born in Laugharne, Carmarthenshire, Wales, the son of Gelly John, a shoemaker. He went to the Laugharne cha ...

and his wife, Eliza Hansard. He was the youngest brother of diplomat

Spenser St. John Sir Spenser Buckingham St. John (22 December 1825 – 3 January 1910) was British Consul in Brunei in the mid 19th century. Early life On 20 September 1827, Spenser was baptised at St Pancras Old Church. Diplomatic career In 1847 St John's fa ...

, journalist Bayle St. John and travel writer

Percy Bolingbroke St. John Percy Bolingbroke St John (4 March 1821 – 1889) was an English journalist.Robert J. Kirkpatrick, ''From the Penny Dreadful to the Ha'penny Dreadfuller'' (London: British Library, 2013), p. 23. Early life Percy St. John was the eldest son of Ja ...

. He worked as a clerk for the Inland Revenue before taking up writing full time.

Writing career

St. John was a prolific writer of boys' stories. He edited a series of boys' stories named ''Young Men of Great Britain''. Towards the end of the 19th century, he edited the series ''Pals''. He also reportedly wrote anonymously for publications such as ''The Wild Boys of London''. St. John often found himself struggling to cope with his debts. In 1880, while living in Margate, he pawned all his clothes, and wrapped himself up in a sheet while he wrote his stories.Ralph Rollington, ''A Brief History of Boys' Journals'' (1913).

Family

St. John married Eliza Middleton on 25 April 1857, and they had 11 children between them, but by the time Eliza died in 1874, four had predeceased her. In January 1875, he married Margaret Chilcott, 20 years his junior, and they had 14 children, of which four died in infancy. With his mistress, Mary Ann Barry, he had another four children, who ended up in the workhouse.Robert J. Kirkpatrick, ''From the Penny Dreadful to the Ha'Penny Dreadfuller'' (London: 2013), p. 25.

Death

St. John died virtually penniless at his home in

Peckham Peckham () is a district in southeast London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720. History "Peckham" is a Saxon p ...

on 20 December 1911.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:St John, Vane Ireton Shaftesbury English writers 1838 births 1911 deaths English male writers