Identity:

James Edmund Vincent was a barrister and journalist. He married Mary Alexandra Cook in 1884.

Life:

Vincent was first called to the Bar in 1884 and practiced on the North Welsh circuit. Around this time he also commenced his literary career, publishing on a variety of political and social topics, especially land reform in Wales (such as Tenancy in Wales, 1887). He soon abandoned law for journalism and became a staff reporter (and later special correspondent) for the London Times in 1886.

He also published a number of works of biography and topography including a Life of the Duke of Clarence (1893) and From Cradle to Crown (1902), a popular biography of Edward VII. From 1894-1897 he was editor of the National Observer, and it ws in this role that he was in correspondence with Whistler. This was followed by a stint as editor of Country Life from 1897 to 1901.

Bibliography:

Who's Who, 1898, London, 1898; Who was Who: a companion to Who's Who, London, 1920-21; Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford, 2004, on-line edition (accessed 2004); National Library of Scotland, on-line catalogue, http://main-cat.nls.uk (accessed 2005).