James Mew

James Mew was an English barrister and man of letters, born in 1837 and died on February 25, 1913. He was the son of George Mew of Holborn, studied at Merchant Taylors' School, then went on to Wadham College, Oxford, where he matriculated in 1855 and graduated B.A. in 1860. He was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1864.

Alongside his legal career, Mew wrote across several genres. He contributed to the Dictionary of National Biography and is associated with works including Drinks of the World, written with John Ashton, as well as other literary and historical pieces. That mix of professional training and broad curiosity gives his writing a distinctive feel: informed, readable, and often drawn to unusual or overlooked subjects.

Although he is not as widely known now as some of his contemporaries, Mew's work still offers a vivid glimpse of late Victorian interests, especially where scholarship, storytelling, and everyday culture meet.