John howie biography
- John Howie (14 November 1735 – 5 January 1793) was a Scottish biographer.
- John Howie, the author of The Scots Worthies, lived almost all his life in relative obscurity on his ancestral farm at Lochgoin in Ayrshire, which had been.
- John Mackintosh Howie (1936–2011), Scottish mathematician; John Howie (businessman) (1833–1895), industrialist and investor.
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John Howie (biographer)
Scottish biographer
John Howie | |
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obelisk in memory of Howie | |
| Born | (1735-11-14)14 November 1735 Lochgoin |
| Died | 5 January 1793(1793-01-05) (aged 57) |
| Occupation | farmer |
| Nationality | Scottish |
John Howie (14 November 1735 – 5 January 1793) was a Scottish biographer.[1][2][3] His best known work was Biographia Scoticana, first published in 1775, which is often called The Scots Worthies. It deals with Christians and particularly Presbyterians especially in their strivings with church and civil authorities.
Life
John Howie was an East Renfrewshire farmer from Lochgoin, who claimed descent from an Albigensian refugee.[1] The author was the 28th descendant in a direct line, all of whom were called John.[4] Although he was a plain unlettered peasant, cultivating the same farm which his ancestors had occupied for ages, a natural predilection for literary pursuits induced him to take up the task of recording the lives of the martyrs and confessors of Scotland.[5] John Howie, the author of The Scots Worthies, lived almost all his life in relative obscurity on his ancestral farm at Lochgoin in Ayrshire, which had been a noted place of refuge in Covenanting times. He was born at Lochgoin on 14th November 1735, but as a child was placed in the care of his maternal grandparents at their farm of Blackshill, in the parish of Kilmarnock, with whom he lived till he reached the age of manhood. When old enough for the purpose, he was sent first to a school at Whirlhall, taught by an uncle, and afterwards to another at Horsehill, where he obtained only a very ordinary education, but where he probably acquired those studious habits, which he retained through life, and turned to such good account. And yet it cannot cease to be a matter of surprise and admiration, that one in his position, and with his imperfect education, should have been able to attain that literary eminence which he afterwards reached as a chronicler and biographer. He was married twice – first to Jean Lindsay, who died soon after, leaving behind her an infant so HOWIE, JOHN (1735–1793), author of 'Scots Worthies,' was born on 14 Nov. 1735 at Lochgoin, about two miles from Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. Tradition derives him from one of three brothers Huet, who came from France as persecuted Albigenses in the twelfth century, and settled respectively in the parishes of Mearns and Craigie, and at Lochgoin. Several generations of Howies farmed Lochgoin, and staunch devotion to religious freedom was a family characteristic. Owing to his father's death Howie lived from childhood to early manhood with his maternal grandparents on the farm of Blackshill, Kilmarnock, and attended two country schools. About 1760 Howie married and became farmer of Lochgoin. The soil of Lochgoin did not demand incessant work, and Howie devoted his leisure to literary pursuits, gradually forming a small library, and collecting antiquarian relics chiefly connected with the covenanters. His miscellaneous collection included specimens of typographical work by Barker, the early newspaper printer, and Captain Pa
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John Howie
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Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Howie, John
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