John Weyland

John Weyland (1774–1854) was an English writer on the poor laws and Member of Parliament.

Life

Born on 4 December 1774, he was the eldest son of John Weyland (1744–1825) of Woodrising in Norfolk and Woodeaton in Oxfordshire, by his wife Elizabeth Johanna (d. 1822), daughter of John Nourse of Woodeaton. The MP Richard Weyland was his younger brother. He matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford, on 10 November 1792, and was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1800.[1] He became a Fellow of the Royal Society.[2][3]

Weyland founded the British Review and London Critical Journal with William Roberts in 1811, as a quarterly that appeared to 1825. Weyland after the initial issues handed over the editorship to Roberts.[4] It took an evangelical Christian editorial line.[5]

On 31 July 1830 Weyland was returned to parliament for Hindon in Wiltshire, and retained his seat until December 1832. He died, without issue, at Woodrising on 8 May 1854. On 12 March 1799 he had married Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Whitshed Keene of Richmond.[1]

Works

Weyland studied the English poor-law system, and in 1807 published A Short Enquiry into the Policy, Humanity, and Effect of the Poor Laws, London. In it, and in a pamphlet published in the same year (Observations on Mr. Whitbread's Poor Bill and on the Population of England) he deprecated too much education for the poor, and stated that a certain degree of hardship was a necessary incentive to industry. He wrote also:[1]

• A Letter to Sir Hugh Inglis on the State of Religion in India (London, 1813). John Scott-Waring replied to it.[4]
• The Principle of the English Poor Laws, illustrated from the Evidence given by Scottish Proprietors (before the Corn Committee,) on the Connexion observed in Scotland between the Price of Grain and the Wages of Labour (1815).[6]
• The Principles of Population and Production as they are affected by the Progress of Society (London, 1816).

He edited Robert Boyle's Occasional Reflections (London, 1808).[1]

Notes

1. Lee, Sidney, ed. (1899). "Weyland, John" . Dictionary of National Biography. 60. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
2. Curthoys, M. C. "Weyland, John". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/29153. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
3. historyofparliamentonline.org, Weyland, Richard (1780-1864), of Woodeaton Hall, nr. Islip, Oxon.
4. historyofparliamentonline.org, Weyland, John (1774-1854), of Woodrising Hall, Norf.
5. John O. Hayden (1969). The Romantic Reviewers: 1802-1824. Taylor & Francis. p. 51. GGKEY:SYN12ZCJ3YC. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
6. John Weyland (1815). The principle of the English poor laws illustrated from the evidence given by Scottish proprietors. Retrieved 18 May 2013.

Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1899). "Weyland, John". Dictionary of National Biography. 60. London: Smith, Elder & Co.