Fred T. Jane
BiographyJohn Fredrick Thomas Jane (August 6, 1865–March 8, 1916) was an English author, illustrator, and the founding editor of reference books on warships (All the World’s Fighting Ships) and aircraft (All the World’s Airships) and the namesake of what would become Jane’s Information Group.
Born in Richmond, Surrey, England, he worked most of his life in Portsmouth. His father was a Church of England vicar and he attended Exeter School. He first began to sketch warships in his teens and was notable in the 1890s for illustrating scientific romances by George Griffith and other authors, as well as for his own science fiction novels such as To Venus in Five Seconds. An avid miniatures wargamer, Jane first published All the World’s Fighting Ships (known as Jane’s Fighting Ships after 1905) in 1898, which catalogued all the warships operated by each country, their armaments, and other details, as a supplement to a wargame he designed. It was a success from the start and has become the standard reference directory on the topic. The Naval Warrant Officer’s Journal suggested that the book be on every ship and in 1902 said that it should be available to every naval officer. The Admiralty were less enthusiastic, partly due to Jane’s irreverent behaviour. In 1909 he created All the World’s Aircraft. He was an accomplished maritime and naval artist whose works were widely published in periodicals and his own books, many of which illustrations are now considered collectables.
Also involved in politics, he stood as an Independent candidate for Portsmouth in the 1906 general election. He was strongly opposed to the Liberal Party (especially its left wing) and when left-wing Liberal candidate Edward Hemmerde was nominated in 1910, he arranged a stunt to disrupt his election campaign: at a public meeting, Jane arranged for a sailor to ask Hemmerde to insist on the supply of hammock ladders should he be elected: Hemmerde fell for this and gave the pledge. He also once kidnapped Victor Grayson MP in a political stunt. In later life Jane lived at Bedhampton and was instrumental in setting up one of the first Scout troops. After catching a chill while on a speaking tour in December 1915, Jane became ill and in March 1916 died alone in his apartment from influenza and heart congestion.
Bibliography (wildly incomplete)
Hartmann the Anarchist; or, The Doom of the Great City (science fiction, 1893, illustrator)
To Venus in Five Seconds (science fiction, 1897, author and illustrator)
All the World’s Fighting Ships (reference book, 1898, author and illustrator)
The Violet Flame: A Story of Armageddon and After (science fiction, 1899, author and illustrator)
All the World’s Aircraft (reference book, 1909, author and illustrator)
Other links
GlobalSecurity.org
Wikipedia