Ord, John Walker

(1811-1853)

   He was the son of Richard Ord, a tanner and leather merchant from Guisborough, Yorkshire. While studying medicine at Edinburgh he made the acquaintance of James Hogg, the "Ettrick Shepherd" (see entry). He abandoned medicine and in 1836 became a journalist in London. In 1836 he published Remarks on the sympathetic Condition existing between the Body and the Mind especially during Disease. In 1843, he returned to Guisborough and spent the later years of working on the history and literature of the Cleveland area. The History and Antiquities of Cleveland appeared in twelve monthly parts during 1844. It was published in one volume during 1846 and reprinted in 1972. He died at Guisborough. Some of his poetry publications: The Wandering Bard and Other Poems, 1833. England: a historical Poem, 1834-1835 (2 volumes). The Bard, and minor Poems, 1841. Rural Sketches and Poems, chiefly relating to Cleveland, 1845. Prince Oswy, 1868. Some of his poems: "Queen Victoria at Windsor," "Song of Miriam," "The Alum Rocks," "The Beloved," "The Rose of Cleveland," "To a Girl of Fifteen," "To the Cuckoo," "Tynemouth Prior."

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995 (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html). Stanford University Libraries and Academic Information Resources (http://library.stanford.edu). Teesonline: Outlet: Who's Who in Literary Cleveland (http://www.teesonline.org.uk/?lid=2205).