John William Robertson Scott CH (born in Wigton, Cumberland on 20 April 1866, died Idbury, Oxfordshire on 21 December 1962) was a British journalist and author, best known for his writings on rural affairs, and a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour. [1]
His father was David Young Crozier Scott (1844–1887), a commercial traveller and advocate of temperance, and his mother was Janet Robertson (1843–1905). He was partly educated in Quaker schools and his parents attended Quaker and non-conformist worship.
When a child, his family moved to Carlisle and then Birmingham, when his father became head of the Independent Order of Good Templars.
He married Elspet Keith, a writer and oriental scholar, in 1906. They had no children. [1]
After freelancing for various publications including the Manchester Guardian , he received a staff position on the Birmingham Gazette but left when he indicated he would not write any articles supporting the Conservative Party or its causes.
In 1887 he started work at the Pall Mall Gazette under W. T. Stead and later Edward T. Cook, following Cook to the Westminster Gazette in 1893. In 1899 he moved to the Daily Chronicle but resigned over his opposition to the Boer War, which his proprietors supported.
As a result, he moved to the country, Great Canfield in Essex, and began to write on rural matters for the Country Gentleman , World's Work and The Field . He produced numerous books and articles, setting out country life for readers in towns and cities.
He moved to Japan for a few years after the outbreak of World War I. He returned in 1922 and becoming involved with the National Federation of Women's Institutes.
In 1923 he moved to Idbury, Oxfordshire, in the Cotswolds. There he founded the journal The Countryman , which he edited until 1947, despite selling it in 1943. He aimed to inform towns people of the realities about rural life, believing knowledge of these topics was fundamental to living a good life. [2] He was also involved in local government and housing policy. [1] He was a magistrate and a county councillor and for many years a committee member of the advisory committee of the Ministry of Health. [3]
His best-selling book was England's Green and Pleasant Land (1925) [1] "a scorching condemnation of the agricultural workers' conditions of life" [4] which described problems with rural housing. [5] Despite its harsh portrait, it did much to promote an idea of rural life as idyll in England. [4] There was a second edition in 1931 and a revised and extended edition in 1947. [6]
He also wrote The Foundations of Japan based on his travels to the Orient.
He was made a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in 1947 and received an honorary MA from Oxford University in 1949. [1]
Sir George Gilbert Scott, largely known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he started his career as a leading designer of workhouses. Over 800 buildings were designed or altered by him.
Charlbury is a town and civil parish in the Evenlode valley, about 6 miles (10 km) north of Witney in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England. It is on the edge of Wychwood Forest and the Cotswolds. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 2,830.
George Frederick Bodley was an English Gothic Revival architect. He was a pupil of Sir George Gilbert Scott, and worked in partnership with Thomas Garner for much of his career. He was one of the founders of Watts & Co.
John Oldrid Scott was a British architect.
Sir Arthur William Blomfield was an English architect. He became president of the Architectural Association in 1861; a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1867 and vice-president of the RIBA in 1886. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied Architecture.
Samuel Sanders Teulon was an English Gothic Revival architect, noted for his use of polychrome brickwork and the complex planning of his buildings.
Daniel Robertson was a British architect.
Benjamin Ferrey FSA FRIBA was an English architect who worked mostly in the Gothic Revival.
Sir Charles Archibald Nicholson, 2nd Baronet, was an English architect and designer who specialised in ecclesiastical buildings and war memorials. He carried out the refurbishments of several cathedrals, the design and build of over a dozen new churches, and the restoration of many existing, medieval parish churches.
Fifield is a village and civil parish about 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Burford in Oxfordshire. The western boundary of the parish forms part of the county boundary with Gloucestershire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 240.
Idbury is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold Hills in Oxfordshire, about 4+1⁄2 miles (7 km) southeast of Stow-on-the-Wold in neighbouring Gloucestershire. The parish includes the hamlets of Bould and Foscot. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 240.
Henry Woodyer (1816–1896) was an English architect, a pupil of William Butterfield and a disciple of A. W. N. Pugin and the Ecclesiologists.
Sibford Gower is a village and civil parish about 6.5 miles (10.5 km) west of Banbury in Oxfordshire, on the north side of the Sib valley, opposite Sibford Ferris. Sibford Gower parish includes the village of Burdrop. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 508. Much of the village is a conservation area.
Langford is a village and civil parish in West Oxfordshire, about 3 miles (5 km) northeast of Lechlade in neighbouring Gloucestershire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 349.
John Chessell Buckler was a British architect, the eldest son of the architect John Buckler. J. C. Buckler initially worked with his father before taking over his practice. His work included restorations of country houses and at the University of Oxford.
Charles Buckeridge was a British Gothic Revival architect who trained as a pupil of Sir George Gilbert Scott. He practised in Oxford 1856–68 and in London from 1869. He was made an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1861.
Joseph Clarke (1819–1888) was a British Gothic Revival architect who practised in London, England.
John Gibbs was a British Gothic Revival architect based in Wigan, Manchester, and Oxford, England.
The Countryman magazine was published in England from 1927 to 2023.
The Church of St Anthony of Padua, Oxford is a yellow brick-built Catholic church in suburb of Headington, east Oxford, Oxfordshire, England. The church building is located in Headley Way.
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