John Mortimer

John Mortimer (c. 1656 – 1736) was an English merchant, and writer on agriculture, known for The whole Art of Husbandry, in the way of Managing and Improving of Land published in London in 1707.

Biography John was born in 1656, the only son and heir of Mark Mortimer, grocer of London, by his wife Abigail Walmesley of Blackmore in Essex, who married 3 October 1651 in the parish of St Anne and St Agnes, London. His father was born into a yeoman family of Bow, Devon, and had a brother Peter who also entered into a commercial profession. John Mortimer received a commercial education, and became a prosperous merchant on Tower Hill.

In November 1693, at the age of about 43, he bought the estate of Topping Hall, Hatfield Peverel, Essex, which he improved; a number of cedar trees planted by him were still in there in the 19th century. Mortimer became Fellow of the Royal Society in December 1705.

The work was dedicated to the Royal Society, of which Mortimer had been admitted a member in December 1705. A second edition was issued in 1708, and a third in 1712, "containing such additions as are proper for the husband- man and gardiner (sic) ... to which is added a Kalendar, shewing what is to be done every month in the flower garden." It was translated into Swedish by Jacob Serenius in 1727, and a sixth edition, with additions, and revised by Thomas Mortimer, the writer's grandson, appeared in 2 volumes in 1761.

By the end of the 18th century Mortimer authority faded. The 3rd edition (1777) of The Complete Farmer still mentioned Mortimer as reference over 50 times, but in 4th edition (1793) just over a dozen times. In his 1825 An encyclopædia of agriculture, John Claudius Loudon confirmed Mortimer's authority in the 18th century, stating: "In England, from the restoration to the middle of the eighteenth century, very little improvement took place, either in the cultivation of the soil, or in the management of live stock. Even clover and turnips (the great support of the present improved system of agriculture) were confined to a few districts, and at the close of this period were scarcely cultivated at all by common farmers in the northern parts of the island. From the Whole Art of Husbandry, published by Mortimer in 1706, a work of considerable merit, it does not appear that any improvement was made on his practices till near the end of last century. In those districts where clover and rye-grass were cultivated, they were cut green, and used for soiling as at present. Turnips were sown broadcast, hand hoed, and used for feeding sheep and cattle, as they were used in Houghton's time, and are still in most districts of England.

Donaldson in his 1854 Agricultural Biography, credited both Mortimer and John Mills for being the first authors, who wrote on agriculture, presenting all the branches of the art within the compass of one work. John Mills succeeded, according to Donaldson, while "Worlidge began the attempt, but failed in the comprehension required."

Selected publications John Mortimer. Some Considerations concerning the present State of Religion, with some Essays towards our Love and Union, London, 1702. John Mortimer. Advice to Parents, or Rules for the Education of Children, London, 1704. John Mortimer. The whole Art of Husbandry, in the way of Managing and Improving of Land. London, 1707.