SOUTHALL, JOHN EDWARD (1855 - 1928), printer, publisher, author; a member of the Society of Friends

Name: John Edward Southall
Date of birth: 1855
Date of death: 1928
Spouse: Ann Southall (née Berry)
Parent: Elizabeth Southall (née Trusted)
Parent: John Tertius Southall
Gender: Male
Occupation: printer, publisher, author; a member of the Society of Friends
Area of activity: Literature and Writing; Printing and Publishing; Religion
Author: William Llewelyn Davies

Born at Leominster, Herefordshire, the son of John Tertius Southall and Elizabeth (Trusted). He was educated at Weston-super-Mare and at the Society of Friends' school at Bootham, Yorkshire. He started to learn Welsh when he was quite young and became fairly proficient in the use of the language. He settled as a printer at Newport, Monmouth, in 1879, and continued to print and publish books there until about the beginning of the third decade of the 20th century. Many of his publications were textbooks for use in the schools of Wales and England. He wrote much about the Quaker way of life, e.g. Quakerism as a Factor in the World's History, Quakerism as a Universal Religion, etc. He made a special study, both as individual and publisher, of the problem of the teaching of the Welsh language in both Welsh -speaking and English -speaking districts of the Principality, starting by submitting a memorandum on this subject ('Bilingual teaching in Welsh elementary schools …') to a royal commission which sat in 1886 and 1887. Amongst his publications of Welsh interest are Wales and her Language considered from a historical, educational, and social standpoint, 1892 (2nd ed. 1893); The Welsh Language Census of 1891 … and remarks on the future of the language, 1895; Preserving and teaching the Welsh Language in English speaking districts, 1899; The Welsh Language Census of 1901, 1904; he also published a series of bilingual readers for use in schools in Wales. He retired from business c. 1924 and died in Caswell Terrace, Leominster, 13 November 1928. His wife was Ann Berry.

Author

Published date: 1959

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