Jerrold, Douglas

PLAYWRIGHT, AUTHOR (ENGLAND)
BORN 3 Jan 1803, London - DIED 8 Jun 1857, London: Kilburn Priory
BIRTH NAME Jerrold, Douglas William
GRAVE LOCATION London: West Norwood Cemetery, Norwood High Street, Norwood (square 97, grave 5452)

Son of the actor Samuel Jerrold. He grew up in Sheerness and in 1813 he served as a midshipsman at the guardship Namur, with Jane Austen's brother Francis as its captain. After the peace in 1815 his service ended. The family went to London where he worked as a compositor for the Sunday Monitor. He started writing articles for magazines and became a professional journalist.

In 1821 his comedy "More Frightened than Hurt" was performed at Sadler's Wells. His "Black-Eyed Susan" (1829) ran for over 300 performances. He founded the Illuminated Magazine but he was best known for his publications for Punch. He first contributed to the second number of Punch in 1841 and continued working for Punch until a few days before he died in 1857.

Charles Dickens was one of the pall-bearers at his funeral at West Norwood Cemetery and he organised performances of "The Frozen Deep" by Wilkie Collins staring himself to raise money for Jerrold's widow.

In 1986 or 1987 his grave monument was destroyed by Lambeth Council that wanted to clear parts of the cemetery. After protests it was declared illegal that monumental tombs were destroyed. The grave was still there and in 2005 a new monument was re-dedicated.

Family
• Son: Jerrold, Blanchard

Related persons
• was a friend of Dickens, Charles
• knew Hunt, Thornton Leigh
• knew Thackeray, William Makepeace

Events
2/12/1844Charles Dickens reads "The Chimes" to a group of friends. It was at the house of John Forster. Among those present were Thomas Carlyle, Douglas Jerrold, Clarkson Stanfield, Daniel Maclise and Samuel Lamann Blanchard. [Dickens, Charles][Maclise, Daniel]

Images

The grave of Douglas Jerrold and Blanchard Jerrold at West Norwood Cemetery, London.
Picture by Androom (28 May 2014)

 

Sources
• Graham, Paul, Wilkie Collins and West Norwoord Cemetery, 1998
• Graham, Paul, West Norwood Cemetery - The Dickens Connections, Friends of Norwood Cemetery, London, 1995
Douglas William Jerrold - Wikipedia


Jetting, Karol

Published: 01 Nov 2015
Last update: 20 May 2023