John Oakman (c.1748–1793) was an English engraver and writer.

Life

Oakman was born in

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the London Borough of Barnet, northwest London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient Manorialism, manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has ...

about 1748, and was educated at a grammar school. He was apprenticed to the map-engraver

Emanuel Bowen Emanuel Bowen (1694 – 8 May 1767) was a Welsh map engraver, who achieved the unique distinction of becoming Royal Mapmaker to both to King George II of Great Britain and Louis XV of France. Bowen was highly regarded by his contemporaries f ...

, but left before completing his indenture, in consequence of an affair with his daughter, whom he afterwards married. He kept a shop in partnership with

Matthias Darly Mary and Matthew Darly were English printsellers and caricaturists during the 1770s. Mary Darly (fl. 1756–1779) was a printseller, caricaturist, artist, engraver, writer, and teacher. She wrote, illustrated, and published the first book ...

for the sale of caricatures and similar prints, "but the love of pleasure and good company got so much the better of his judgment that he was soon put to other contrivances to obtain a living."Page 335
'' The Monthly Magazine'', volume 10. 1800. Having some literary facility, he made money by writing several disreputable novels, such as ''The Life and Adventures of Benjamin Brass'' (1765), partly based on his early life, ''The History of Sir Edward Haunch'', and others. His book ''The Adventures of William Williams, an African Prince'', whom Oakman met in Liverpool prison, had some success through its attack on slavery as an institution. "He wrote for two guineas a set of two volumes; and such was his rapidity, that he could produce one work a week." Oakman had a gift for song-writing, and wrote many popular songs for

Vauxhall Gardens Vauxhall Gardens is a public park in Kennington in the London Borough of Lambeth, England, on the south bank of the River Thames. Originally known as New Spring Gardens, it is believed to have opened before the Restoration of 1660, being me ...

Bermondsey Spa Thomas Keyse (1722–1800) was an English still-life painter, and the proprietor of Bermondsey Spa. Life A self-taught artist, Keyse was a member of the Free Society of Artists, and exhibited with them from 1761 to 1764; he painted still life, ...

and elsewhere; he also wrote

burletta In theater and music history, a burletta (Italian, meaning "little joke", sometimes burla or burlettina) is a brief comic opera. In eighteenth-century Italy, a burletta was the comic intermezzo between the acts of an ''opera seria''. The extended w ...

s for the performances at

Astley's Amphitheatre Astley's Amphitheatre was a performance venue in London opened by Philip Astley in 1773, considered the first modern circus ring. It was burned and rebuilt several times, and went through many owners and managers. Despite no trace of the thea ...

. He engraved on wood illustrations for children's books and cheap literature. After a somewhat vagrant life, Oakman died destitute at his sister's house in Westminster in October 1793, and was buried at Holy Trinity Minories.

References

Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oakman, John 1740s births 1793 deaths 18th-century English novelists English male songwriters English wood engravers 18th-century English engravers