Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Mayhew, Augustus Septimus
MAYHEW, AUGUSTUS SEPTIMUS (1826–1875), author, born in 1826, was seventh and youngest son of Joshua Dorset Joseph Mayhew, attorney, of 26 Carey Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, who died in 1858, and was brother of Henry and Horace Mayhew, both of whom are separately noticed. Like his brothers he devoted himself to literature from an early age, and in conjunction with his brother Henry he produced many popular works of fiction. The best remembered is 'The Greatest Plague of Life, or the Adventures of a Lady in Search of a Good Servant,' 1847, which displays much humour and power of acute observation, but is now chiefly sought after for Cruikshank's excellent plates [see for other joint writings under Mayhew, Henry]. A Dutch version appeared at Amsterdam in 1858. 'Paved with Gold, or the Romance and Reality of the London Streets,' 1857, and 'Faces for Fortunes,' 1805, 3 vols., are the best of his separate writings, which also include 'Kitty Lamere, or a Dark Page in London Life,' 1855; 'The Finest Girl in Bloomsbury,' a serio-comic tale of ambitious love, 1861; 'Blow Hot, Blow Cold,' a love story, 1862.
With Henry Sutherland Edwards he was joint author of six dramatic pieces: 'The Poor Relation,' 1851; 'My Wife's Future Husband,' 1851; 'A Squib for the Fifth of November,' 1851; 'The Goose with the Golden Eggs,' a farce, Strand Theatre, 1 Sept. 1859; 'Christmas Boxes,' a farce, Strand, 1860; and 'The Four Cousins,' a comic drama, Globe Theatre, May 1871. He also wrote for 'The Comic Almanac,' 1845-53, which he edited from 1848-50, and contributed to 'The Boy's Birthday Book,' by Mrs. S. C. Hall and others, 1859.
He resided at 7 Montpelier Row, Twickenham, but died in the Richmond Infirmary, whither he had gone to undergo an operation for hernia, on 25 Dec. 1875. He was buried in Barnes cemetery 30 Dec. He left an only son, Richard Mayhew.
[Academy, 1 Jan. 1876, p. 8; Era, 2 Jan. 1876, p. 15; Hodder's Memories of My Time, 1870, pp. 62–5; Times, 28 Dec. 1875 p. 7, 30 Dec. p. 6.]