John Ives

Who was John Ives?

John Ives FRS was an antiquarian and officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. He was born in Great Yarmouth, the son of another John Ives, a wealthy merchant. He was baptized at a Congregationalist church and it was from a Congregationalist minister that he received his earliest educational instruction. He was planning to attend Gonville and Caius College but went to work in his father's counting-house in 1767.

Due to his father's wealth, Ives did not need to take a job, and his growing interest in British antiquities made it undesirable. Ives was elected as a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London on 13 June 1771. Shortly thereafter, Ives began to assemble material for a history of Lothingland, the north-easternmost part of Suffolk. This was never published, but a manuscript version of it, entitled Collectanea Lothinglandia or The History and Antiquities of the Hundred of Lothingland can be found in the British Library.

Ives was also able to spend time as a collector, thanks to his father's resources. He was also able to acquire a private press around the beginning of 1772.