Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Jewitt, Llewellynn Frederick William
JEWITT, LLEWELLYNN FREDERICK WILLIAM (1816–1886), antiquary, born at Kimberworth, near Rotherham, Yorkshire, on 24 Nov. 1816, was the youngest of the seventeen children of Arthur Jewitt [q. v.], the topographer, by his wife Martha, daughter of Thomas Sheldon. In early life he lived at Duffield, Derbyshire, and was taught by his father. Before he was twenty-one he had learnt wood-engraving. In 1835 he made the acquaintance of F. W. Fairholt [q. v.], the engraver and antiquary, and in 1838 went to London to join him in the work of illustrating various publications—chiefly Charles Knight's—by drawing and engraving under Stephen Sly. He executed nearly the whole of the drawings for ‘London Interiors’ (though his name was not mentioned), and contributed with pen and pencil to the ‘Pictorial Times,’ the ‘Illustrated London News,’ and other periodicals. About 1846 he was at Headington Hall, near Oxford, working with his brother, Thomas Orlando Sheldon Jewitt [q. v.], at the illustrations for Parker's ‘Glossary of Architecture’ and ‘Domestic Architecture.’ He afterwards returned to London, and for a time had the management of the illustrations of ‘Punch.’ From 13 July 1849 till 29 Sept. 1853 he was chief librarian of the Plymouth Public Library. During his librarianship the building was enlarged, the library re-arranged, and the collection of William Cotton, F.S.A., and the Halliwell-Phillipps donation of manuscripts (the latter due to his kind offices) acquired. In 1853 he removed to Derby, and there started the ‘Derby Telegraph,’ a monthly penny paper, issued after the abolition of the stamp duty as a penny weekly. He remained editor till 1868. He was vice-president of the Derbyshire Archæological Society, acted as honorary curator of the town and county museum at Derby, and was a promoter and one of the earliest officers of the Derby rifle volunteers. He compiled and published in 1860 ‘Rifles and Volunteer Rifle Corps: their Institution, Arms, Drill,’ &c. He began, but did not finish, a ‘History of Derbyshire.’ In 1860 he established the antiquarian magazine, the ‘Reliquary,’ and continued its editor and a chief contributor till his death. About 1868 Jewitt removed to Winster Hall, High Peak, Derbyshire. In 1871 he took a leading part in the useful work of bringing pure water in pipes to Winster from a distance of three miles. In 1880 he removed to the Hollies, Duffield, where he died, after a month's illness, on 5 June 1886. He was buried on 9 June at Winster (Reliquary, 1886, p. 240). A civil-list pension had been granted him in July 1885. Jewitt married at Derby, on 25 Dec. 1838, Elizabeth, daughter of Isaac Sage of Bath and Derby. She died on 4 March 1886. They had several children, but Edwin A. G. Jewitt was the only son who survived his father.
Jewitt was a member of the British Archæological Association and a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries (elected 27 Jan. 1853). He was an industrious and useful writer on English antiquities and topography, and had practical experience in opening barrows, chiefly in Derbyshire. His best-known work, the ‘Ceramic Art of Great Britain,’ gives a good general account of the history and productions of English pottery and of porcelain manufactures. Its compilation occupied Jewitt for nearly twenty years. The descriptions and illustrations of the modern potteries are less satisfactory than those of the earlier manufactories. Jewitt formed a collection, part of which was sold in London in 1871. His numismatic writings are elementary. He was a man who made many friends. Among them were Joseph Mayer, Thomas Wright, C. Roach Smith, and S. C. Hall, to whose ‘Art Journal’ he long contributed. A photograph from a bust is prefixed to W. H. Goss's ‘Life,’ vol. i.
The following are the chief of Jewitt's publications: 1. ‘Handbook of British Coins,’ 1840. 2. ‘A Guide to the Borough of Derby,’ Derby, 1852, 8vo. 3. ‘Black's Guide to Derbyshire’ (edited by L. J.), 1857, 8vo. 4. ‘The Matlock Companion and Visitor's Guide to the … Peak of Derbyshire,’ Derby [1860?], 8vo. 5. ‘The Wedgwoods’ (memoirs of Josiah Wedgwood, &c.), London, 1865, 8vo. 6. ‘The Ballads and Songs of Derbyshire,’ London, 1867, 8vo. 7. ‘Black's Guide to Buxton’ (edited by L. J.), 1868, 8vo. 8. ‘Guide to Alton Towers,’ Edinburgh, 1869, 8vo. 9. ‘The Life of William Hutton,’ &c. (Chandos Library) [1869, &c.], 8vo. 10. ‘Grave-mounds and their Contents,’ London, 1870, 8vo. 11. ‘Handbook of English Coins,’ London [1870], 8vo. 12. ‘Domesday Book of Derbyshire’ (edited by L. J.), 1871, fol. 13. ‘Haddon Hall’ (a guide by S. C. Hall and L. J.), 1871, 8vo. 14. ‘A History of Plymouth,’ Plymouth, 1873, 4to. 15. ‘The Stately Homes of England’ (by S. C. Hall and L. J.), London, 1874–7, 8vo. 16. ‘Half-hours among some English Antiquities,’ London, 1877, 8vo; 2nd edition, 1878, 8vo. 17. ‘The Ceramic Art of Great Britain, being a History of the Ancient and Modern Porcelain Works of the Kingdom from Prehistoric Times,’ London, 1878 [1877], 8vo; new edition, revised [1883], 8vo. 18. ‘The Life and Works of Jacob Thompson,’ London, 1882, 4to. 19. ‘English Coins and Tokens,’ London, 1886, 8vo.
[W. H. Goss's Life of Jewitt, 1889, and the notice in the Reliquary, new ser. vol. i. 1887 (published 1888); C. R. Smith's Retrospections, ii. 80–3; Brit. Mus. Cat.]