James Burn

James Dawson Burn (c. 1809 – 1889), born James Dawson McBurney, was an Irish author, vagrant, and prominent Odd fellow. His most notable work, The Autobiography of a Beggar Boy, was regarded at the time as a prime example of a poor Irish man's experience.

Early life

Childhood and family Burn's exact date of birth is unknown, but scholars estimate his birth to be sometime in the early 1800s, roughly between 1801-1809. He was born in County Down, Ireland to an unmarried Scottish woman working as a saleswoman, sometimes regarded as a beggar. As a child of unmarried parents, he was considered illegitimate in Ireland and the rest of Europe. They had five children together, and Kitty, along with one of their children, died in 1837 due to typhus. In 1838, Burn remarried and had 13 more children. By the time of his death, both wives and 5 of his 18 children had died. He often moved from city to city, and lived with serious financial instability during points of his adult life. Due to his state of homelessness, he was considered to be a vagabond or vagrant. After his time in Scotland and England, Dawson Burn eventually relocated to New York in the 1860s. He returned to England in the late 1860s until his death in 1889 in London. Harte argues that, due to his success in the hat trade in both Hexham and Glasgow, Burn gained "artisan status." However, it is unclear whether this is true, as some scholars claim that he lacked financial security throughout his career. Before he stepped down, Burn was elected to the board of directors for the Oddfellow movement. At the time of publishing, newspapers and magazines such as The Athanæum and The Spectator reviewed his Autobiography with praise for Burn's account of the harsh truths of tramping. Vagrants were often viewed as people of lesser intelligence, and a piece of writing such as his autobiography was unexpected from somebody of Burns' social status.