J. W. Robertson Scott

John William Robertson Scott CH (born in Wigton, Cumberland on 20 April 1866, died Idbury, Oxfordshire on 21 December 1962) was a British journalist and author, best known for his writings on rural affairs, and a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour.

Family His father was David Young Crozier Scott (1844–1887), a commercial traveller and advocate of temperance, and his mother was Janet Robertson (1843–1905). He was partly educated in Quaker schools and his parents attended Quaker and non-conformist worship.

When a child, his family moved to Carlisle and then Birmingham, when his father became head of the Independent Order of Good Templars.

He married Elspet Keith, a writer and oriental scholar, in 1906. They had no children. He was also involved in local government and housing policy.

Books His best-selling book was England's Green and Pleasant Land (1925) which described problems with rural housing. Despite its harsh portrait, it did much to promote an idea of rural life as idyll in England.

He also wrote The Foundations of Japan based on his travels to the Orient.

Awards He was made a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in 1947 and received an honorary MA from Oxford University in 1949.