Today in Celtic History
Today in Celtic History
James Boswell, Scottish biographer of Samuel Johnson- died.
May 19, 1795 James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (October 29, 1740 - May 19, 1795) was a lawyer, diarist, and author born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was the eldest son of a judge, Alexander Boswell, 8th Laird of Auchinleck and his wife Euphemia Erskine, Lady Auchinleck. He is best known as the biographer of Samuel Johnson. His name has passed into the English language as a term (Boswell, Boswellian, Boswellism) for a constant companion and observer.
Boswell is known for taking voluminous notes on the grand tour of Europe that he took as a young nobleman and, subsequently, of his tour of Scotland with Johnson. He also recorded meetings and conversations with eminent individuals belonging to The Club, including Lord Monboddo, David Garrick, Edmund Burke, Joshua Reynolds and Oliver Goldsmith. His written works focus chiefly on others, but he was admitted as a good companion and accomplished conversationalist in his own right.
Boswell is known for taking voluminous notes on the grand tour of Europe that he took as a young nobleman and, subsequently, of his tour of Scotland with Johnson. He also recorded meetings and conversations with eminent individuals belonging to The Club, including Lord Monboddo, David Garrick, Edmund Burke, Joshua Reynolds and Oliver Goldsmith. His written works focus chiefly on others, but he was admitted as a good companion and accomplished conversationalist in his own right.
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What else happened today on May 19
- May 19, 1660
An Act by the British Parliament forbids the export of Irish wool - May 19, 1710
John Forster is unanimously elected Speaker of the House of Commons, replacing Alan Brodrick - May 19, 1795
Death in Auchinleck of James Boswell, biographer of Dr Johnston. - May 19, 1798
Lord Edward Fitzgerald, a leader of the United Irishmen, is betrayed by Francis Magan; he's arrested and is shot while being apprehended; he dies of his wounds on June 4 - May 19, 1821
Anna Maria Odell, the second wife of William Odell (former MP for Co. Limerick), gives birth to a stillborn child in the Marshalsea debtors' prison, where she had accompanied her husband - May 19, 1832
Standish Hayes O'Grady, scholar, is born in Castleconnell, Co. Limerick - May 19, 1862
Máire Ni Aodáin (Mary Hayden), Irish historian, is born - May 19, 1869
Birth of Henry Dixon, botanist - May 19, 1870
Sir Isaac Butt invents the term "Home Rule". The first meeting of the "Home Government Association" (later to become the "Home Rule League") is held in a Dublin hotel. A resolution is passed "that the true remedy for the evils of Ireland is the establishm - May 19, 1939
John Sheahan, fiddle player with the Dubliners, is born
