Galt, John
NAME:
Galt, John
ACHIEVEMENTS:
Novels of Scottish life
NICKNAME/ALIAS:
None
DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH:
2 May 1779, Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland
DATE AND PLACE OF DEATH AND AGE AT DEATH:
11 April 1839, Greenock, Renfrewshire, Scotland. Aged 60
DISCIPLINE:
Writer
FIELD:
Literature
LANGUAGE:
English
PARENTS:
Father: John Galt
Mother: Jean Galt
SIBLINGS:
3
SPOUSE:
Elizabeth Tilloch
CHILDREN:
3 sons
EDUCATION:
Irvine grammar school
Greenock grammar school
MAJOR WORK:
“The Ayrshire Legatees” (1820)
“The Annals of the Parish” (1821)
“The Entail” (1823)
“Life of Lord Byron” (1830)
LIFE AND TIMES:
Galt, the son of a sea captain, became a junior clerk with merchants in Greenock, Scotland. His ambitions were literary and he had some of his verse published in local newspapers. He also wrote a play about Mary Queen of Scots before going to London in 1803 after quarrelling with a customer.
After studying law in London and starting a biography of Cardinal Wolsey, Galt got a job as a merchant’s agent which involved travelling on the continent to set up trade agreements. On a journey from Gibraltar to Malta in 1809 he travelled on the same ship as the poet <met and wrote biography of> Byron*. He met Byron again in Athens and later wrote his biography. In 1812 he published a book on his travels as an agent. In the same year came his biography of Cardinal Wolsey and an edition of his plays (described by <attacked by> Sir Walter Scott* as the “worst ever seen”).
Having failed to set up a scheme for smuggling English goods into Spain, in 1816 Galt anonymously published his first novel: “The Majolo.” Like his poem: “The Crusade” the novel failed. Galt’s first literary success came with the publication of “The Ayrshire Legatees” (1820) in which letters by a Scottish clergyman and his family describe their experiences of London.
This was followed by “The Annals of the Parish” (1821), an often-humorous novel about economic and social conditions in rural Scotland, narrated by one of Galt’s best-known characters, the Reverend Micah Balwhidder. The book was highly praised by Scott, whose own novels had opened up the market for Scottish literature. <inspired> John Stuart Mill* said that he adopted the world ‘utilitarian’ from Galt’s work, although the world had been used for some time by Jeremy Bentham.
Galt needed to write to make money and in 1822 brought out the most popular of his English novels, “Sir Andrew Wylie”. “The Entail” (1823) was praised by both Scott and Byron. Unfortunately for him, his next three historical novels failed to make an impact.
During the 1820’s he was involved in a scheme to purchase land in Canada and eventually became secretary of the Canada Company. He visited Canada to pursue the company’s interests and establish settlements. From 1827 to ‘29 he worked hard to develop virgin forest land between Lake Huron and Lake Ontario. He organized the felling of trees, the building of roads and canals, the sale of land to settlers and founded the city of Guelph, Ontario.
His family joined him in Canada and Galt looked to spend the rest of his life there. Although Guelph eventually prospered, the Canada Company failed to make a profit and its stocks fell. Galt quarreled with the lieutenant-governor and was dismissed.
He returned to England in 1829 and was briefly imprisoned for debt. He was now totally dependent on writing and in 1830 wrote “Lawrie Todd, or the Settlers in the Woods” about the tough life of settlers in Canada. His biography of Byron came out in the same year. Galt’s picture of Byron caused a great deal of controversy and went through five editions in two years.
He was persuaded by the publisher <influenced by> John Murray* to edit the Tory newspaper, the “Courier” and he contributed to several literary journals. He continued to write novels and published a volume of poems but he remained poor. “The Member” (1832) was one of the first political novels to be written.
One of Galt’s sons, Sir Alexander Galt, was a minister in the Canadian government and eventually became Prime Minister of Canada.
ASSESSMENT: Galt was part of the revival in Scottish literature and for lively and humorous descriptions of Scottish rural life.
EXTRA CONNECTIONS: None
ONELINER: John Galt, biographer of Byron
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Aldrich, Ruth, John Galt, Twayne Publishers, Boston, 1978
Scott, PH, John Galt, Scottish Academic Press, Edinburgh, 1985