also recently begun to practise. John soon became offended by his brother, objecting to his attempt to use family connections to advance his career. Hogg gained the position of revising barrister for Northumberland and Berwick in 1838. This required him to travel to Northern England twice a year. Jane often complained about these trips, but Hogg enjoyed visiting the north. He hoped that his legal service would earn him an appointment as a judge, but he was to be disappointed. In 1841 Hogg wrote Some Recollections of Childhood, a historical novel set in London at the time of the Norman Conquest. He published its chapters in instalments in Edward Bulwer's Monthly Chronicle. The book was not well received by critics, who complained of its discursive nature and poor character development; William Makepeace Thackeray published a particularly scathing review. Hogg had gained a reputation as a Greek scholar however, and contributed to the Encyclopædia Britannica; he was the author of the "Alphabet" and "Antiquities" entries in the seventh edition. Family conflicts In 1843 Hogg became the target of a blackmail attempt by John Edward Johnson, Jane's husband. Johnson provided journalist Barnard Gregory with the details of Jane's marital status. Gregory soon published a report on her in The Satirist, but made a crucial mistake. Gregory claimed that the wife of James Hogg, a Member of Parliament for Beverly, was legally married to another man, prompting James Hogg to initiate a libel suit against Gregory. Johnson quickly disappeared after he learned of the error. Gregory was convicted of libel and served a brief prison sentence. Following his release he prepared a correction that he intended for publication, which could have threatened Hogg's legal position. Hogg appealed to Leigh Hunt, who convinced Gregory not to publish. John Edward Johnson died in 1840, ensuring that Jane would never be blackmailed because of her marital status. Although Hogg and Jane were now free to marry they chose not to, to avoid revealing their situation. Hogg's mother Prudentia died in 1839. As a condition of his father's will, upon the death of his mother, Thomas Jefferson Hogg could purchase his brother's share of Norton House. He decided not to, because of the potential cost of maintaining the house and the hostility Jane could face there. Instead, he allowed his brother to buy his interest in the house, a decision that led to conflict between the two