Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
colloquial for "signature," 1903 (sometimes, through some unexplainable error, John Henry), from the Boston merchant and rebel (1736-1793), signer of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. The extended sense is from his signing that dangerous document first or most flamboyantly.\n\nJohn Hancock, president of Congress, was the first to sign the Declaration of Independence, writing his name in large, plain letters, and saying: "There; John Bull can read my name without spectacles. Now let him double the price on my head, for this is my defiance."
[Hélène Adeline Guerber, "The Story of the Thirteen Colonies," New York, 1898]
\nThe family name is attested from 1276 in Yorkshire, a diminutive (see cock) of Hann, a very common given name in 13c. Yorkshire as a pet form of Henry or John.Wikipedia
'''John Hancock ''' (October 8, 1793) was an American merchant, smuggler, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first and third Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He is remembered for his large and stylish signature on the United States Declaration of Independence, so much so that the term "John Hancock" has become, in the United States, a synonym for a signature.
Before the American Revolution, Hancock was one of the wealthiest men in the Thirteen Colonies, having inherited a profitable mercantile business from his uncle, himself a prominent smuggler. Hancock began his political career in Boston as a protégé of Samuel Adams, an influential local politician, though the two men later became estranged. As tensions between colonists and Great Britain increased in the 1760s, Hancock used his wealth to support the colonial cause. He became very popular in Massachusetts, especially after British officials seized his sloop Liberty in 1768 and charged him with smuggling. Although the charges against Hancock were eventually dropped, as Professor Peter Andreas, author of Smuggler Nation: How Illicit Trade Made America explains, "It is perhaps appropriate that the first signer of the Declaration of Independence was Boston's most well known merchant-smuggler, John Hancock."
Hancock was one of Boston's leaders during the crisis that led to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War in 1775. He served more than two years in the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, and as president of Congress, was the first to sign the Declaration of Independence. Hancock returned to Massachusetts and was elected governor of the Commonwealth, serving in that role for most of his remaining years. He used his influence to ensure that Massachusetts ratified the United States Constitution in 1788.
John Hancock (1735–1793) was an American politician, entrepreneur, and soldier.
John Hancock may also refer to:
John Hancock (October 24, 1824 – July 19, 1893) was U.S. judge and politician. As a member of the Texas Legislature he opposed the secession of Texas during the American Civil War. After the war he represented Texas in the United States House of Representatives as a member of the Democratic Party.
John George Hancock (15 October 1857 – 19 July 1940) was a Liberal Party politician and Trade Unionist in the United Kingdom.
'''John Hancock ''' (24 February 1808 – 11 October 1890) was a British naturalist, ornithologist, taxidermist and landscape architect. He is considered the father of modern taxidermy. He introduced the style of dramatic preparation in taxidermy. One of his famous works "Struggle with the quarry" depicted a falcon attacking a heron which held an eel. This taxidermy mount was an attraction at the 1851 Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace in London.
Hancock was born in Newcastle upon Tyne and educated at The Royal Grammar School. He was a brother of the naturalist Albany Hancock. The brothers lived with their sister, Mary Jane, at 4 St. Mary’s Terrace, Newcastle, now part of a listed terrace at 14–20 Great North Road. His father was also a John Hancock and he ran a saddle and hardware business. He may have trained in taxidermy under Richard Wingate, a neighbour of Thomas Bewick. Hancock was a mentor and tutor to the celebrated ornithologist and bird painter, Allan Brooks.
In 1874, Hancock published his Catalogue of the Birds of Northumberland and Durham.
Hancock edited Thomas Bewick's 1847 edition of Birds. In 1868 he planned a layout for Newcastle Town Moor, which was only partly realised. In 1875 he was asked to prepare a plan for Saltwell Park, but declined due to pressure of work.
The Hancock Museum in Newcastle upon Tyne is named after the Hancock brothers, both of whom took an instrumental part in getting the museum built. The museum contains many specimens from their collections.
John Hancock (born 1976 as John Langley Hayward) is an Australian businessman. He is the son of Gina Rinehart and grandson of the late mining magnate Lang Hancock.
John Hancock (March 4, 1941 – October 12, 1992) was an American film and television actor.
Born in Hazen, Arkansas, Hancock is possibly best remembered for his role as "Scotty" in the ABC miniseries Roots: The Next Generations. His large size and distinctive bass voice allowed him to establish a niche playing authority figures, and he was often cast as a minister, judge, or high-ranking military officer.
Hancock also made recurring appearances in several television shows during his career, including Knots Landing, Family Ties, Diff'rent Strokes, Cop Rock, The Dukes of Hazzard, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Amen, Midnight Caller, Pacific Station, and L.A. Law. He was working with Susan Dey on the CBS sitcom Love & War as the bartender "Ike Johnson" in 1992, when he died of a heart attack at his home in Los Angeles. Hancock's character's death was subsequently written into the series and he was replaced by actor Charles Robinson.
Hancock was interred in the Devotion section, at Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.
Usage examples of "john hancock".
There was no money in his background, no Adams fortune or elegant Adams homestead like the Boston mansion of John Hancock.
Losing no time, Knox then set sail by pilot boat to meet the Lucretia and deliver an official welcome to Minister Adams and his lady from Governor John Hancock.
At six feet two-and-a-half inches, he stood taller than all but a few and towered over someone like John Hancock, who at five feet four was perhaps the shortest man in the assembly.
Beside him, facing the desk where John Hancock sat in the president's chair, were Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, Jefferson, and Franklin, all dead now except Jefferson, who in the painting held the Declaration in his hands.
Onenight stands, drinking binges, ninetofive, Chicago Transit Authority, dark movie houses, football games on television, sleeping pills, the John Hancock Tower where the windows won't open so you can't breathe the smog or jump out.
One-night stands, drinking binges, nine-to-five, Chicago Transit Authority, dark movie houses, football games on television, sleeping pills, the John Hancock Tower where the windows won't open so you can't breathe the smog or jump out.
And in a bitter letter to John Hancock, he had given vent to his indignation: I do not think that either my name, my services, or my person are proper objects to be trifled with or laughed at.
And in a bitter letter to John Hancock, he had given vent to his indignation: “.
After ten days in which my most useful work was the examination of several bales of under-sized blankets from France, I was happy to receive from John Hancock an appointment as aide to General Israel Putnam .