Lawrie Todd by John Galt

Lawrie Todd by John Galt

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John Galt was born in 1779 in the Ayrshire town of Irvine, where his father was a shipowner and sea captain who traded with the West Indies. Galt's family relocated to Greenock when he was ten years old, and much of his subsequent writing originated from this part of Scotland's west coast. Galt left his work as a junior clerk in Greenock at the age of 25 and set off for London. He embarked on a tour of the Mediterranean and the Near East after his business ideas failed. Byron was one of the people he met and befriended during this time.

Galt turned to writing full-time after his marriage in 1813, having released Biography of Cardinal Wolsey and a volume of dramas in 1812. The Majolo (1816), his second novel, was published to mixed reviews. Galt discovered his calling with Ayrshire Legatees (1820), which pretended to be letters home from a Scottish family visiting London. This work, which first appeared anonymously in Blackwoods Magazine in monthly installments, led to the release of Annals of the Parish (1821), a gentle sarcastic masterpiece.

The Provost (1822) followed in the same vein, while The Entail (1822) and Sir Andrew Wylie (both 1822) had similar strengths despite being constructed as more traditional novels. In a unique psychological and historical study of Covenanting passion and the 'killing times' in the 17th century, Ringan Gilhaize (1923) took a darker turn.Becoming involved with the establishment of Canada, he became superintendent for the Canada Corporation. Galt aided in the settlement of Ontario and helped to found Guelph. Unfortunately, he was baldy treated by the directors, and his health collapsed after four years overseas, forcing him to return to London, where he faced bankruptcy and a stint in the debtor's prison.

His novel The Member and The Radical (both 1832) offered a critical look at his country's political life, and his biography of Lord Byron (1830) was a contentious hit. He wrote on his Memoirs (1833) and Literary Life and Miscellanies (1834) after suffering a series of crippling strokes. In 1834, he returned to Greenock, where he died five years later.