We keep you updated on the world of poetry with our news roundups.
William Edmondstoune Aytoun was a 19th century Scottish poet, translator and lawyer who was also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He is often referred to as ‘the first modern professor of English literature". He was born on the 21st June 1813 in Edinburgh and his father, Roger Aytoun, held the privileged legal position of writer to the signet. This meant ...
William Cosmo Monkhouse was an English poet, novelist and art critic who also had a career in the civil service, rising to the position of assistant-secretary to the finance department at the Board of Trade. He was born on the 18th March 1840 in London, the son of a solicitor. After attending St Paul’s School up to the age of seventeen he began employment as a ...
William Ross Wallace was a 19th century American poet and lawyer of Scottish origins who, during the 1860s, produced a piece of work called The Hand That Rocks The Cradle Is The Hand That Rules The World. This was the poem that made his name and it is still well known today. The story which sings the praises of motherhood was adapted for a Hollywood ...
William Percy French was an Irish poet, song writer and watercolour artist. He is best known for his jaunty songs, the most famous probably being Abdul Abulbul Amir. He performed many of them himself on the stage, thus making him one of the most popular entertainers of the late 19th century. He was born on the 1st May 1854 at Cloonyquin House which is ...
William Ellery Leonard was an American poet and translator of epic works such as Beowulf and classical pieces by Lucretius and Aesop. He also served time as assistant professor of English at Wisconsin university and was well-known as a literary scholar. He was born William Ellery Channing Leonard on the 25th January 1876 in Plainfield, New Jersey. His parents were great admirers of the ...
William Gilmore Simms was a 19th century American novelist, historian and poet who had strong pro-slavery views which, understandably, were at odds with many others around at that time. He belonged to the so-called “sacred circle” of southern-based intellectuals including Nathaniel Beverley Tucker and Edmund Ruffin who had strong moral views on the subject of master and slave. Simms even wrote a novel deliberately ...
William Haines Lytle was a 19th century American poet, politician and soldier who saw distinguished service in both the Civil War and the Mexican-American War, reaching the rank of Brigadier-General. He lost his life to a Confederate army sniper bullet at the Battle of Chickamauga in Georgia. He was born on the 2nd November 1826 in Cincinnati, Ohio. His family circumstances were comfortable and he was educated at ...
William Henry Ogilvie was a Scottish/Australian “bush ballad” poet and journalist, his name usually shortened to Will. He spent a good deal of time working in the outback as a drover where he became an expert horseman and horse breaker. He was born on the 21st August 1869 close to the Scottish border town of Kelso in Roxburghshire. He came from a large family of eight children ...
William Gay was a 19th century Australian poet and occasional teacher who had emigrated from Scotland. He was born on the 2nd May 1865 in Renfrewshire. His father, who was also called William and worked as an engraver who created patterns that would be used in the production of wallpaper, was very religious and hoped that his son would become a church minister. William jnr though ...
Winthrop Mackworth Praed was a 19th century English poet and politician whose life was tragically cut short by tuberculosis. He was born on the 28th July 1802 in London and he owed his unusual surname to a great grandfather’s marriage into a Cornish family. His father held the centuries old title of serjeant-at-law, meaning that he was a highly respected barrister. Young Winthrop began ...
