Biography
Writer. Listed as a writer in Edinburgh at least as late as 1782.1
A James Kettle, writer in Edinburgh, died in 1793.2
- 1Williamson's Directory for the City of Edinburgh, Canongate, Leith, and Suburbs: from June, 1782, to June,1783.
- 2 http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-352-1/dissemination/pdf/vol_041/41_100_115.pdf
Life with Boswell
Boswell spent some time with Kettle during a boat trip on October 30, 1762. He described him as "a little stirring man who makes a neat livelihood by his business, loves a chat with a companion, a dish of tea with his female acquaintances, the news, the coffee-house, and now and then the public diversions. He is good-tempered and was not displeased at my merrily asking him if his name was spelt just like other kettles. I made this man exceedingly subservient to me. I had seen him before".1
- 1Cf. Boswell's Journal of my Jaunt