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| | page =359 }}</ref> 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 This book contained some of Chatterton's unpublished early work but it was said to be full of half truths and even had a now discredited portrait.<ref name="odnb"/> | | page =359 }}</ref> 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 This book contained some of Chatterton's unpublished early work but it was said to be full of half truths and even had a now discredited portrait.<ref name="odnb"/> | ||
| Dix quickly took classes to study medicine at the expense of his friends and obtained work as a surgeon in ] 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 ] to create ''Progress of Intemperance''.<ref name=dix>{{cite book|last=Dix|first=John|title=Progress of Intemperance, from the original paintings by E. V. Rippingille ... with poetical illustrations,|publisher=Philp & Evans: Bristo|url=http://www.worldcat.org/title/progress-of-intemperance-from-the-original-paintings-by-e-v-rippingille-with-poetical-illustrations-by-j-dix/oclc/504141554}}</ref> | Dix quickly took classes to study medicine at the expense of his friends and obtained work as a surgeon in ] 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 ] to create ''Progress of Intemperance''.<ref name=dix>{{cite book|last=Dix|first=John|title=Progress of Intemperance, from the original paintings by E. V. Rippingille ... with poetical illustrations,|publisher=Philp & Evans: Bristo|url=http://www.worldcat.org/title/progress-of-intemperance-from-the-original-paintings-by-e-v-rippingille-with-poetical-illustrations-by-j-dix/oclc/504141554}}</ref> | ||
| Dix served time in ] for debt despite applying to the ]. His claims of employment around this time included editor of the '']'', esquire, bodyguard and traveller.<ref name="odnb"/> | Dix served time in ] for debt despite applying to the ]. His claims of employment around this time included editor of the '']'', esquire, bodyguard and traveller.<ref name="odnb"/> | ||
Revision as of 12:34, 6 January 2013
| John Dix | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1811-09-21)21 September 1811 Bristol |
| Died | after 1863, age at least 51 USA? |
| Nationality | British |
| Other names | John Ross |
| Occupations |
|
| Notable work | Biography of Thomas Chatterton |
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.
Biography
Dix was born in Bristol. 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 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 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 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 to create Progress of Intemperance.
Dix served time in Cardiff Gaol for debt despite applying to the Royal Literary Fund. 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 paggage as ship's surgeon. 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 and Robert Southey and also longer descriptions of major poets like William Wordsworth. 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. His last known location is America where in 1864 he published at least a dozen ballads that supported the Unionist cause in the Civil War.
References
- Giles, Gordon. "Dix, William Chatterton (1837–1898)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/97110.
{{cite encyclopedia}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) (Subscription or UK public library membership required.) - Bailey, Albert Edward (1950). The Gospel in Hymns. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 359.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Groom, Nick. "Dix, John (b. 1811, d. in or after 1864". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/7693.
{{cite encyclopedia}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) (Subscription or UK public library membership required.) - Dix, John. Progress of Intemperance, from the original paintings by E. V. Rippingille ... with poetical illustrations,. Philp & Evans: Bristo.