Boswell

JAMES BOSWELL (1740 - 1795)

James Boswell made a tour of the border counties of England and Scotland, described in Journal of my Jaunt (1762).

In the building now called White Knights in Spital Tongues, Newcastle, there was a private asylum where Boswell used to visit his mentally unstable brother, John. According to his journals, Boswell was there in May 1775, and again on 12 March 1776, when he reflected that it was better to have one's mind obscured than to be actively unhappy. John was able to recognise him and asked him for money. He then unexpectedly said: 'Take me with you.' Boswell was moved to tears, though he knew John was well looked-after and was in no anguish of mind or body.

Boswell became recorder of Carlisle 1788-90.

Myers Literary Guide:	The North-East
JAMES BOSWELL (1740 - 1795) James Boswell made a tour of the border counties of England and Scotland, described in Journal of my Jaunt (1762). In the building now called White Knights in Spital Tongues, Newcastle, there was a private asylum where Boswell used to visit his mentally unstable brother, John. According to his journals, Boswell was there in May 1775, and again on 12 March 1776, when he reflected that it was better to have one's mind obscured than to be actively unhappy. John was able to recognise him and asked him for money. He then unexpectedly said: 'Take me with you.' Boswell was moved to tears, though he knew John was well looked-after and was in no anguish of mind or body. Boswell became recorder of Carlisle 1788-90.
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