CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · People & Ideas

James Hain Friswell

British writer (1825–1878)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 24, 2026
Entity authorityQ6135367 ↗
Source-derived summary

James Hain Friswell (8 May 1825 – 12 March 1878) was an English essayist and novelist.

He was born at Newport, Shropshire, son of William Friswell, of 93 Wimpole Street, London, attorney-at-law, and educated at Apsley School, near Woburn, Bedfordshire. He was intended for the legal profession, which he did not enter, but for some years was obliged to follow a business which was uncongenial to his tastes. He early showed a preference for literature, and contributed in 1852 to the Puppet Show, conducted by Angus B. Reach and Albert Smith. Much of his life was devoted to the defence of Christianity.

He was a frequent contributor to Chambers's Journal, The Leader, The Spectator, the London Review, the Saturday Review, and the Pictorial World. His first successful works were Houses with the Fronts off, brought out in 1854, and Twelve inside and one out. Edited from the Papers of Mr. Limbertongue, which appeared in the following year. In January 1858 he founded the Friday Knights, a social society, the name of which was changed to the Urban Club on 15 Nov.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “James Hain Friswell” as british writer (1825–1878). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around James, Hain and Friswell.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1825, 1878, 1852, 1854—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1825-05-08. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with James, Hain and Friswell providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “James Hain Friswell”, the useful work is to connect “british writer (1825–1878)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6135367. VIAF identifies the subject as 23028346. The Library of Congress control number is nr93030035. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1825, 1878, 1852 and 1854.

Critical limits

Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “James Hain Friswell”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow James Hain Friswell primary sources, James Hain Friswell archive and James research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “James Hain Friswell”?
  2. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
  3. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “James Hain Friswell” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.