Richard Ryan (biographer)

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Autobiographical journal entry by Richard Ryan explaining his life and plans in 1819, including his Irish dictionary of national biography The Worthies of Ireland.

Richard Ryan (18 April 1797 – 20 October 1849)[1] was a British writer of Irish descent. He produced the first Irish biographical dictionary and was also a poet, a lyricist and a playwright.

Early life

Oxford Street in 1816. Richard Ryan was born in 1797 in a building in the background of this view to the west of the Pantheon (foreground).

Richard Ryan was the only child of Elizabeth Ryan (1759-1830) [2] and Richard Ryan (1750-1818). He was born at their home in Oxford Street near the Pantheon, London [3] It was one of several locations on Oxford Street where his father ran a book-selling business for 35 years, from 1784. [4]

Ryan attended the Soho Square Academy and St Paul's School.[5] He initially worked as a bookseller with his father after leaving school but decided to close the bookshop in 1819, a year after his father died on 29 July 1818,[6] to focus on his writing.

Many London booksellers in the early nineteenth century were what would now be known as publishers. Richard's father had published extensive catalogues and books over the years and he must have assisted his father in the publication of these once he was old enough. In 1818 he published the third edition of An Essay on the Antiquities of the Irish Language by Charles Vallancey which had originally been published in 1772. He took the opportunity to add a catalogue section at the back of the book with more than 100 listings of Works relative to the History, Antiquities, and the Language of Ireland on sale in his bookshop.

First Irish biographical dictionary

Richard Ryan is known for his biographical books, the most well-known being Biographia Hibernica, a Biographical Dictionary of the Worthies of Ireland, from the earliest periods to the present time, 2 vols. 8vo, London. Volume One of the Worthies of Ireland was published in April 1819 and Volume Two in 1821.

The Worthies of Ireland is regarded as the first general Irish biographical dictionary.[7] Irish poet and Nobel Prize in Literature winner Seamus Heaney mentioned Ryan's efforts at the launch of the Dictionary of Irish Biography in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 2009.[8]

Poetry and drama

Following the success of his first literary effort, Ryan focused on publishing several books of poems and creating biographical dictionaries of his passions: Dramatic Table Talk about the theatre, followed by Poetry and Poets. He continued to write poetry on various subjects for newspapers including the Morning Post and Fraser's Magazine. In November 1824 the Time's Telescope; The Astronomer's, Botanist's and Naturalist's Guide, for the year 1825 (8vo) featured a 62-page article on English Sacred Poetry by him.[9]

Books written by Richard Ryan about poetry and the theatre included:

  • Eight Ballads on the fictions of the ancient Irish and other poems, 8vo, London, 1822.
  • Poems on sacred subjects. To which are added several miscellaneous, 8vo, London, 1824. Ryan dedicated this book to his friend Quaker poet Bernard Barton.
  • Dramatic Table Talk, or Scenes, Situations, & adventures, serious & comic, in theatrical history & biography, 3 vols, 12mo, London, 1825.
  • Poetry and poets, being a collection of the choicest anecdotes relative to the poets of every age and nation; together with specimens of their works, and sketches of their biography, 3 vols. 12mo, London, 1826.

Published under an alias

  • The Christian Religion; An Account of Every Sect, its Origin, Progress, Tenets of Belief, and Rites and Ceremonies, Carefully Compiled from the best Authorities, 12mo, London, 1840. This book was published under the initials R.R.[10]

As an editor

Richard Ryan was editor of one of the earliest books about New Zealand, published in 1832.
It not known if Ryan travelled further than Ireland, but he was editor of several books about expeditions to countries further afield, including Greece, Australia and New Zealand. In October 1824 he edited and wrote the preface to Greece in 1823 and 1824 by Hon. Colonel Leicester Stanhope, 5th Earl of Harrington which detailed Stanhope's correspondence with the Greek committee in England. Stanhope was with Lord Byron when he died in Greece that year. Ryan was mentioned in the Morning Chronicle as being given documents relating to the book, by Stanhope. These included "several original letters" written by Byron to Stanhope, as well as some journals written by Stanhope.[11]
  • Greece in 1823 and 1824, by Colonel Leicester Stanhope, London, 1824.
  • A narrative of a nine months' residence in New Zealand in 1827: together with a journal of a residence in Tristan D'Acunha, an island situated between South America and the Cape of Good Hope by Augustus Earle, London, 1832.[12]
  • Narrative of a Voyage Round the World, and description of British Settlements on the Coast of New Holland by Thomas Braidwood Wilson, London, 1835.[13]

Plays

  • Everybody's husband: A comic drama, in one act, London, 1830. Performed at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket.
  • Everybody's husband a farce in one act, London, 1831. Performed at the Queen's Theatre, Tottenham Street, February 1831.
  • The Irish Girl. Performed at the Adelphi Theatre, by the English Opera Company, September 1830 and July 1831.
  • Quite at home: a comic entertainment in one act, London, 1836. Performed in the Theatre Royal, Haymarket.
  • Le pauvre Jacques a vaudeville in one act by Theodore Cogniard, translated from French by Richard Ryan, London, 1836. Performed by the French Company at the St. James’s Theatre, July 1836.

Another play submitted to the Lord Chamberlain, London was Second sight: a tale of the Highlands in two acts, 1836. The original manuscript of this play is in the British Library.

Ryan wrote the "introductory remarks" to The tailors, (or 'quadrupeds,') a tragedy for warm weather, London, 1836. Performed at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket.[14]

Lyrics

He wrote lyrics to songs which were set to music by eminent composers including Music and her sister song: duet by Stephen Glover (composer), The fair maid of Perth, the celebrated Scottish ballad sung by Mr. Sinclair at the Nobilities Concerts. Written by Richard Ryan and dedicated by permission to Sir Walter Scott by E. Solis, 1829; My bark shall tempt the seas no more: a ballad by E. Solis, O saw ye the lass wi'the bonny blue e'en!: as sung by Mr. Sinclair (composed by John Sinclair, words by Richard Ryan) and The merry Swiss girl: a Swiss melody by Thomas Valentine and Thomas A Birch, 1829. A popular ballad written by Richard Ryan for Stephen Glover was A Voice from the Waves, duet, released in January 1849.[15] There's a sweet wild rose: duet written before Richard Ryan's death was set to a ballad by Stephen Glover in 1856.

Personal life

In a journal from early 1819 Ryan writes: I was born in Oxford Street London, on the 18th of April 1797 in which street my father kept a bookselling establishment for upwards of thirty years. My education I received partly at Soho Square Academy and partly at St Paul's School which latter "Garden of Knowledge" I was removed from to assist my father in his business. When it came to be my own, by the demise of my father in July 1818, I declined following, having initiated a taste for Literary Composition and which I cultivated by writing pieces of Poetry on various subjects for the newspapers - these were the produce of my leisure hours. My more important literary pursuit being to compile and write a work of Irish Biography in 3 vols (each volume to be published separately) to be called "A Biographical Dictionary of the Worthies of Ireland" which I propose that contain the lives of every native of Ireland celebrated in his own or other countries of whom accounts are to be found by considerable research, or are to be supplied by my writing to several distinguished literary characters in Ireland to whom I had the letter of introduction from various quarters. Of this work prior to commencing it, I had dreamt rather a "golden dream"....

Three pages of the journal were saved by his family along with many newspaper clippings of his poems that were kept by him at the time, several of which were submitted (or published) anonymously. Also in the journal he describes people who he was contacting to write the Worthies of Ireland.

In the next entry in the journal, written presumably in 1821 but undated, he writes: I now for the first time in my life began to think that I shant not clear a fortune by my first literary undertaking. He describes how the first volume was printed with a fine portrait of John Philpot Curran... Regarding the sale of the first volume of Worthies of Ireland he writes: I sent a quantity of copies to Ireland where I expected it would have the greatest sale - but there it met with little or none. In this country it sold much better - but the sale in both countries was such as to make me determined never to complete the work. This determination however I was induced to change two years approximately afterwards by my printer consenting to take the expenses on himself provided I would finish the work in one more volume. This I agreed to do.... Five editions of both volumes were published in 1821 and 1822 and are held by 37 libraries worldwide.[16]

One of his friends was Irish writer Thomas Crofton Croker (1798-1854) who moved to London from Cork, Ireland in 1819. Croker helped Ryan with contacts and accommodation when Ryan lived in Cork in 1822 and 1823. Ryan maintained a friendship with him for more than 30 years.[17]

Ryan married Amelia Cecilia Didier (1803–74) at St Marylebone Parish Church, Westminster in May 1822. They were living in Cork when their first child Richard Jr was born in 1823. On return to London they lived in Camden Town where they had four more children: Edmund (1825–86), Alfred (1827–38), Elizabeth Bridget (1830–33) and Jane (1834-1915).

277 Camden High Street in 2013. Richard Ryan lived here with his family from 1825 to around 1830.

They lived with other family members at 50 Park Street from 1823-25 (now 28 Parkway), moving to their own house at 6 Adams Terrace (now 277 Camden High Street) in 1825, as Ryan's success grew and their family grew in size. They returned to 50 Park Street around 1830 before the birth of their daughter Elizabeth Bridget in December 1830.

Despite his earlier success as a biographer and poet and playwright, including critical acclaim for Everybody's Husband, it is thought that he lost a lot of money investing in the production of some of the other plays he wrote and produced in the early 1830s, including The Irish Girl, which did not get good reviews on its second run in 1831 and closed early.[18] In March 1835 he was jailed in King's Bench Prison, Southwark, due unpaid taxes and his family's situation was described in letters to the Literary Fund by Ryan's referees as critical as they had lost everything, including their furniture. Ryan continued to write poetry and prose for publication from the prison, sending articles to his friend TC Croker to forward to newspapers. The Literary Fund paid the debt, releasing him from prison. However despite some success as an editor, playwright and writer between 1835 and his death in 1849 the Literary Fund helped him again in the 1840s. The applications to the Fund, held in the British Library, have revealed several previously uncredited works by Ryan.

In around 1844 the family moved to 5 Pratt Street, Camden Town (now number 9). His eldest son Richard Jr had 'a paralysis-type disability', possibly autism, living at home unable to work until around 1846,[19] or in accommodation nearby,[20] until 1849. Richard Jr married Maria Hall in May 1846 and produced Richard Ryan's first grandchild, Elizabeth, in 1847.

Ryan had a heart attack in early September 1849 and died seven weeks later on 20 October.[21] He was buried in the 19th century cemetery for St James's Church, Piccadilly, on 25 October 1849. The cemetery became St James's Gardens, Camden, in 1878 with only a few gravestones lining the edges of the gardens.[22] His remains and those of many other people buried there are thought to have been moved when Euston Station was expanded and are now buried under platforms 12 to 15 of the station although they may still be under the gardens which are located between Hampstead Road and Euston Station.[23]

Posthumous success

Richard Ryan was acknowledged for his biographical work in the British Dictionary of National Biography in 1895.

His lyrics continued to be published for several years after his death. A Voice from the Waves was written to music by Stephen Glover, an answer to a popular duett What are the Wild Waves Saying. Published in his final year of life in 1849, it was popular in the United States.

A Voice from the Waves in the dead of night
alto
A voice from the waves in the dead of night,
Sung melodious o'er my pillow,
As I lay on my couch in slumber light,
Lull'd to rest by the heaving billow!
It spoke not of human hopes and fears,
That o'ercloud time's hours flying,
But it told of the dead of former years
That in ocean's bed were lying!

A voice from the waves in the dead of night
Sung melodious o'er my pillow,
As I lay on my couch in slumber light,
Lull'd to rest by the heaving billow!
Lull'd to rest,
Lull'd to rest by the heaving, the heaving billow!

duett
And thus it sung,
And thus it sung,
The voice the voice from the waves,
And thus it sung,
And thus it sung,
And thus, thus it sung
I come from the deep,

soprano
I come from the deep, I come from the deep,
Where the seaflower gently uncloses,
Where fiery youth hath a dreamless sleep,
And the warrior in calmness reposes
Where the parent and child lie side by side,
Doom'd by destiny ne'er to sever;
Where the husband fond, and his new made bride,
In death's embrace are clasp'd forever!

Each wave rolls over the burial place
Of earth's children in countless numbers,
Of ev'ry hue, and clime, and race
Where no tempest can break their slumbers.
Of ev'ry hue, and clime, and race
Where no tempest can break their slumbers.

duett
The voice was hush'd, the vision fled,
But my heart felt a pang of sorrow,
Till the daystar o'er me, her bright beams shed,
Commencing a glorious morrow!
'Till the daystar o'er me, her bright beams shed,
Commencing a glorious morrow,
Commencing, commencing a glorious, a glorious morrow.
The voice was hush'd, the vision fled.
The voice was hush'd, the vision fled.

References

  1. ↑ A letter written (above) records his correct date of birth, incorrectly listed elsewhere as 1796 (on his death certificate his age is listed as 53, however he was 52). Also listed in Time's Telescope, 1825 p. 91. Birth date of 18 April 1797 is also registered on Baptism records with St George's Hanover Square, Westminster, 10 September 1802.
  2. ↑ Morning Post, 20 February 1830: DIED At her house in Park-street, Camden-town, Mrs Ryan, aged 71, widow of Mr. Ryan, bookseller, and mother of Richard Ryan, author of several works in prose and poetry.
  3. ↑ 1807 catalogue advertising rare books mentioning location of bookshop on Oxford Street.
  4. ↑ They were given notice in late 1813 to vacate their building at that time when Regent Street and Oxford Circus were created but they were still in the same location "near Argyle Street" in 1816 according to R.Ryan's catalogue for 1816.Morning Chronicle, 1 Jan 1814: Books at reduced prices - R.Ryan, 339 Oxford Street, opposite Great Portland-street, acquaints the public, it has been intimated to him, that the premises in which he now resides must be taken down, in consequence of the intended plan for the New Street, into Regent's Park; he therefore will dispose of his extensive collection of books at very reduced prices ... Numbering of Oxford Street started at Tottenham Court Road and went along the north side of Oxford Street to Marble Arch before going down the south side to Tottenham Court Road again. The shop next to the Pantheon was number 359. Ryan's bookshop was at 351, 353 and 339 over the years according to http://bookhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2007/01/streets-o.html.
  5. ↑ Admission registers of St. Paul's school, from 1748 to 1876
  6. ↑ The Gentleman's Magazine Oct 1818, p.375 and Mar 1819, p.286: Mr. Richard Ryan was a native of Ireland, and kept a bookseller's shop in Dublin, but quitted it for this country; and resided, for upward of 35 years, in Oxford-street, carrying on a respectable business in the sale of second-hand books. He was a man of some humour, scrupulously exact in his dealings, and much esteemed by all who knew him.
  7. ↑ C.j. Woods, "A guide to Irish biographical dictionaries" in The Maynooth Review / Revieu Mha Nuad Vol. 6, No. 1, May 1980
  8. ↑ There have been previous dictionaries of this nature, of course, such as the early 19th century account by Richard Ryan of ‘the Worthies of Ireland’ as he called them, and the one compiled by the Belfast born physician John Smith Crone in 1928, but none have attempted to be as exhaustive or extensive as the volumes now brought triumphantly to completion by our esteemed editors, Dr James McGuire and Dr James Quinn. Royal Irish Academy report on the launch of the Dictionary of Irish Biography, 16 December 2009.
  9. ↑ Time's Telescope 1825, p.p. xxxi - civ
  10. ↑ This book is listed on application forms to the Literary Fund by Ryan held in the British Library.
  11. ↑ Morning Chronicle, 2 October 1824.
  12. ↑ Listed as work done by Richard Ryan when applying to the Literary Fund in 1845 and 1849, however the editorial is unnamed in the book.
  13. ↑ Listed as work done by Richard Ryan when applying to the Literary Fund.
  14. ↑ http://archive.org/stream/tailorsorquadru00cruigoog#page/n10/mode/2up
  15. ↑ The Era, 7 Jan 1849: NEW MUSIC: In the gentle and reproachful melancholy of the sweet music to which these lines of which Mr Richard Ryan are allied, we find something which goes directly to the heart of any one who can sympathize and who has experienced the sentiment they convey...
  16. ↑ WorldCat listing of Worthies of Ireland
  17. ↑ 10 letters from Richard Ryan and one from Elizabeth Ryan to T Crofton Croker written between 1822 to 1845 are in Cork Library Archives. They show a personal friendship with Coker's family in Cork and also of Crofton with Ryan's family in Camden Town. In 1827 Elizabeth Ryan sold her late husband's extensive collection of books about Ireland to Croker for £50 according to the Croker archives in the Cork Library.
  18. ↑ Theatrical Observer, 12 July 1831
  19. ↑ Letters to the Literary Fund in the British Library describe his son's condition. However he married in 1846 and was listed as working as a messenger copying clerk in the 1851 census.
  20. ↑ His son Richard was present at his death at Ryan's home 5 Pratt St on 20 October 1849. However Richard Jr's address was listed as 28 Pratt Street at that time.
  21. ↑ Listed on his death certificate.
  22. ↑ http://londoncemeteries.co.uk/2011/07/12/st-james-gardens/
  23. ↑ http://www.londonmylondon.co.uk/the-body-now-lying-under-platform-12-at-euston-station-is/
Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Ryan, Richard". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. 

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