John Timbs

Born in Clerkenwell on August 17, 1801, John Timbs was educated privately and apprenticed while still young. He began publishing in magazines in the 1820s and went on to build a long career in London as a journalist, editor, and prolific man of letters.

Timbs became known for writing accessible books about London life, antiquities, popular science, and literary history. Rather than focusing on one narrow subject, he had a gift for collecting curious details and presenting them in a way that felt lively and readable, which helped make him a familiar name to Victorian readers.

He died on March 6, 1875. Today he is remembered especially for the way he preserved the texture of 19th-century London and for the wide-ranging, companionable style that runs through his historical and anecdotal works.