author
Arthur Maynwaring
1668–1712
A sharp-tongued Whig writer and politician, he moved from Parliament into the thick of early 18th-century political journalism. His career mixed public office, party strategy, satire, and pamphlet warfare at a moment when print was becoming a powerful political tool.
1 Audiobook
Reflections on Dr. Swift's Letter to Harley (1712) and The British Academy (1712)
by Mr. (John) Oldmixon, Arthur Maynwaring
About the author
Born at Ightfield in Shropshire on 9 July 1668, Arthur Maynwaring was an English official, journalist, and Whig politician. He sat in the House of Commons from 1706 until 1712 and became known not just for holding office, but for shaping political debate in print.
Maynwaring first leaned toward Tory politics, but later attached himself to leading Whigs and became an energetic party writer. He worked as a polemical author and journalist, using essays and pamphlets to defend Whig causes and attack opponents, which made him a noticeable figure in the fiercely partisan world of Queen Anne's England.
He died on 13 November 1712, aged 44. Although he is not among the best-known writers of his age, his life captures an important shift in British public life, when politics, newspapers, and persuasive prose were becoming closely entwined.