J. Ewing (James Ewing) Ritchie

Born in Wrentham, Suffolk, on May 1, 1820, he was the son of the Reverend Andrew Ritchie. He studied at Coward College and University College London before moving into journalism, a path that shaped the clear, observant style of his later books.

He wrote under his own name and also used the pseudonym Christopher Crayon. Alongside editing and owning periodicals including The Principality and The Illustrated News of the World, he built a varied career as an author of travel books, political biographies, and vivid studies of everyday life.

Ritchie is especially remembered for writing about nineteenth-century London, with several books devoted to the city’s religious, social, and night life. He also wrote about major public figures such as Cobden, Gladstone, Palmerston, and Queen Victoria, bringing a journalist’s curiosity to both people and places.