John Timbs was an English author and antiquarian. Some of his work was published under the alias "Horace Welby." Timothy was born in Clerkenwell, London, in 1801. He was educated in a private school in Hemel Hempstead. In his sixteenth year, he was apprenticed to a drugstore and printer in Dorking. He demonstrated literary talent early on, and at the age of nineteen, he began writing for the Monthly Magazine. A year later, he was appointed secretary to the company's owner, Sir Richard Phillips, and decided to pursue a career in literature. He served as editor of the Mirror of Literature, the Harlequin, and The Literary World before becoming a sub-editor of the Illustrated London News.He also founded and served as the first editor of the Year-Book of Science and Art. His published works totaled around one hundred and fifty volumes. In 1834, he was made a fellow of the London Society of Antiquaries. Timbs died on March 6, 1875, and was buried in the churchyard of St Peter and St Paul, Edenbridge, Kent.