John Gifford

Gifford, John, previously John Richards Green, 1758—1818

by Benjamin Colbert

John Gifford, formerly John Richards Green, was the son of John Green, a lawyer from Shropshire. His parents dying shortly after he was born, John Richards was raised by his grandparents from whom he inherited substantial property in 1772. After spending his inheritance, he retired to France for economy and changed his name to John Gifford. Back in England by around 1788, he established himself as a historian and political writer, in the latter capacity taking a consistent pro-ministerial anti-revolutionary line in the 1790s, earning a popular success with his Short Address to Members of Loyal Associations (1798). In 1798, he started the Anti-Jacobin Review and Magazine, or, Monthly Political and Literary Censor which ran until 1821.

Sources:

Stephen, Leslie, and Adam I. P. Smith. 'Gifford, John [formerly John Richards Green] (1758–1818), tory political writer'. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 23 Sept. 2004. Oxford University Press. Web. 28 Jan. 2016. https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/10665

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