John Entick (c.1703 – May 1773) was an English schoolmaster and author. He was largely a
hack writer, working for
Edward Dilly, and he padded his credentials with a bogus M.A. and a portrait in clerical dress; some of his works had a more lasting value. In the leading case ''
Entick v Carrington'' of 1765 he won a legal victory as plaintiff that defined the limits of
executive power
The executive branch is the part of government which executes or enforces the law.
Function
The scope of executive power varies greatly depending on the political context in which it emerges, and it can change over time in a given country. In ...
in the view of the English judiciary.
Life
He was probably born about 1703, and resided in the parish of
St. Dunstan's, Stepney. In 1755 he agreed with
John Shebbeare and Jonathan Scott to write for their anti-ministerial paper, ''
The Monitor'', appearing every Saturday, at a salary of £200 a year(according to the Bank of England Inflation Calculator — equivalent to £38,333.92 annually) and his attacks on the government caused his house to be entered and his papers seized under a general warrant in November 1762. He sued the authorities for illegal seizure over this, claiming £2,000 in damages, and obtained a verdict for £300 in 1765.
He died at
Stepney
Stepney is an area in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London. Stepney is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name was applied to ...
, where he was buried, on 22 May 1773, being about seventy years old.
Works
His first publication, the ''Speculum Latinum'' (1728), was a simplified scheme to teach Latin. For his ''Evidences of Christianity'' (1729) he styled himself on its title-page student of divinity. In 1736 he issued a proposal, which fell through, to print
Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer ( ; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He ...
in two folio volumes, and he put M.A. after his name. In 1754 he published his ''Phaedri Fabulae'', with accents and notes.
He published in 1757 a ''New Naval History'', with lives and portraits, dedicated to Admiral
Edward Vernon
Admiral Edward Vernon (12 November 1684 – 30 October 1757) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. He had a long and distinguished career, rising to the rank of admiral after 46 years service. As a vice admiral during the War of Jenkins' E ...
. In 1763 he published a ''General History of the Late War.'' He issued in 1765 his ''New Spelling Dictionary'';
each edition comprised twenty thousand copies; in 1766 he brought out an edition of
William Maitland's ''Survey of London'' with additions. In 1771 appeared his ''New Latin and English Dictionary'' and an ''English Grammar''; and he is credited with a ''Ready Reckoner'', pamphlets on
freemasonry
Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...
, and a share both in the new ''Week's Preparation'' and the new ''Whole Duty of Man''. The ''Lexicon manuale græco-latinvm et latino-græcum. Studio atque opera Josephi Hill, necnon Johannis Entick'' was a revision of
Cornelis Schrevel's Lexicon as edited by
Joseph Hill. He left a large work, in four volumes, ''The Present State of the British Empire'', helped by other hands, nearly ready, which was brought out in 1774. In 1776 appeared a new edition of his ''Survey and History of London''.
William Crakelt and others edited his dictionaries repeatedly, down to 1836.
References
;Attribution
External links
''The General History of the Late War''Vol 1 Archive.org
The General History of the Late WarVol 2 Toronto Public Library Digital Archive
The General History of the Late WarVol 3 Toronto Public Library Digital Archive
The General History of the Late WarVol 4 Toronto Public Library Digital Archive
The General History of the Late WarVol 5 Toronto Public Library Digital Archive
The Present State of the British EmpireVol 1 Toronto Public Library Digital Archive
The Present State of the British EmpireVol 2 Toronto Public Library Digital Archive
The Present State of the British EmpireVol 3 Toronto Public Library Digital Archive
The Present State of the British EmpireVol 4 Toronto Public Library Digital Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Entick, John
1703 births
1773 deaths
English lexicographers
18th-century lexicographers