John Langton Sanford (22 June 1824 – 27 July 1877) was an English historical writer.

Life

Born at

Upper Clapton Clapton is a district of east London, England, in the London Borough of Hackney. Clapton is divided into Upper Clapton, in the north, and Lower Clapton to the south. Clapton railway station lies north-east of Charing Cross. Geography and orig ...

, London, on 22 June 1824, Sanford studied at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. Entering

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

, he read in the chambers of John Richard Quain, and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1855, but never practised as a barrister. From 1852 to the end of 1855 Sanford was joint editor of ''The Inquirer'', established as a Unitarian periodical in 1842. From 1861 till his death he contributed to ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

''. Among his close friends were

Walter Bagehot Walter Bagehot ( ; 3 February 1826 – 24 March 1877) was an English journalist, businessman, and essayist, who wrote extensively about government, economics, literature and race. He is known for co-founding the ''National Review'' in 1855 ...

and William Caldwell Roscoe. For many years Sanford's eyesight was failing, and early in 1875 he became totally blind. After the death of his sister Lucy he moved, in May 1876, from London to

Evesham Evesham () is a market town and Civil parishes in England, parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region of England. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, England, Worceste ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

. He died at Evesham on 27 July 1877, and was buried in the graveyard of Oat Street Chapel.

Works

Sanford wrote: *''Studies and Illustrations of the Great Rebellion'' (1858), some of which had appeared originally in the '' Christian Reformer'', under the signature "Sigma".
''The Great Governing Families of England''
(1865, 2 vols.), written with Meredith Townsend, and originally contributed to ''The Spectator''. *''Estimates of the English Kings from William 'the Conqueror' to George III'' (1872), also reproduced from ''The Spectator''.

Notes

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanford, John Langton 1824 births 1877 deaths English barristers English magazine editors 19th-century English historians 19th-century British journalists British male journalists English male non-fiction writers 19th-century English male writers Journalists from London Lawyers from London Writers from the London Borough of Hackney People from Upper Clapton