Ainslie, Hew (1792–1878), brewer and poet, was born on 5 April 1792 at Bargeny Mains in the parish of Dailly, Ayrshire, only son of the three children of George Ainslie, a butler on the estate of Sir Hew Dalrymple Hamilton. His mother's name is unknown, but ...
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Ainslie, Hew (1792–1878), brewer and poet
T. W. Bayne
revised by Douglas Brown
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Armstrong, Thomas [Tommy] (1848–1920), pitman and poet
Roy Palmer
Armstrong, Thomas [Tommy] (1848–1920), pitman and poet, was born on 15 August 1848 in Wood Street, Shotley Bridge, co. Durham, the son of Timothy Armstrong, labourer, and his wife, Mary, née Wilson. Childhood rickets bowed his legs to such an extent that when at the age of nine he started work as a trapper boy in the pit his brother had to carry him there; he never exceeded ...
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Blackah, Thomas (1828–1895)
Maker: unknown
In
Thomas Blackah (1828–1895), by unknown photographer
With thanks to the Bodleian Library, Oxford
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Blackah, Thomas (1828–1895), poet and miner
Kirstie Blair
Blackah, Thomas (1828–1895), poet and miner, was born at Hardcastle, near Greenhow Hill, Bewerley, north Yorkshire, on 27 April 1828, the eldest son in the family of six sons and one daughter of Joseph Blackah (1794–1873), a lead miner, and his wife, ...
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Burel, John (1565x8–1603), merchant and poet
Jamie Reid-Baxter
Burel, John (1565x8–1603), merchant and poet, was the son of Edinburgh's wealthiest flesher, Harry Burel (d. 1587), and his second wife, Isobel Abernethie (d. 1616), who were married in January 1565. Nothing is known of Burel's schooling, but he was a good Latinist. About 1592 he married ...
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Castillo, John (1792–1845), stonemason, poet, and preacher
W. E. A. Axon
revised by Sarah Couper
Castillo, John (1792–1845), stonemason, poet, and preacher, was born at Rathfarnham, near Dublin. When he was two or three years old his parents, who were Roman Catholics, emigrated to England, and on the voyage were shipwrecked off the Isle of Man. They settled in the hamlet of ...
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Cotton, Roger (c. 1557–1602), draper and poet
Matthew Steggle
Cotton, Roger (c. 1557–1602), draper and poet, was born in Whitchurch, Shropshire, the fifth of six sons of Ralph Cotton, esquire, of Alkington in the parish of Whitchurch, and his wife, Jane, daughter and heir of John Smith (or Tarbock) of Newcastle under Lyme, Staffordshire...
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Cunliffe, William [pseud. Williffe Cunliam] (bap. 1833, d. 1894), blacksmith and poet
Simon Rennie
Cunliffe, William [pseud. Williffe Cunliam] (bap. 1833, d. 1894), blacksmith and poet, was born in Burnley, Lancashire, where he was baptized on 20 January 1833, the third of seven children of Veevers Cunliffe (bap. 1804, d. 1865), a blacksmith, and his wife, ...
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Cardonnel, Pierre [Peter] de (1614–1667), merchant, poet, and bibliophile
Matthew Kilburn
Cardonnel, Pierre [Peter] de (1614–1667), merchant, poet, and bibliophile, was born in Caen, Normandy, in 1614, the second child and eldest son among the ten children of Pierre de Cardonnel (d. in or before 1627) and Marguerite Lecoq. The family was an established protestant merchant dynasty in ...
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Devlin, James Dacres (b. 1800, d. in or after 1863), shoemaker, poet, and radical
Fabrice Bensimon
Devlin, James Dacres (b. 1800, d. in or after 1863), shoemaker, poet, and radical, was born in Dublin on 17 March 1800. He wrote that his ‘only school [had] been the Street Literature of London’ (The Trialist, 41). He was apprenticed to his uncle, ...
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Dod, Henry (fl. 1583?–1620), poet and merchant
Jennett Humphreys
revised by Christopher Burlinson
Dod, Henry (fl. 1583
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Elliott, Ebenezer (1781–1849)
Maker: unknown artist
In
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Elliott, Ebenezer [called the Corn Law Rhymer] (1781–1849), poet and bar-iron merchant
Angela M. Leonard
Elliott, Ebenezer [called the Corn Law Rhymer] (1781–1849), poet and bar-iron merchant, was born on 17 March 1781 in the new foundry of Masbrough in the parish of Rotherham, Yorkshire, one of eleven children (of whom eight reached maturity) of Ebenezer Elliott (...
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Freeth, John [pseud. John Free] (1731–1808)
Maker: unknown
In
John Freeth [pseud. John Free] (1731–1808), by unknown artist, 18th century
by Birmingham Musuems Trust, licensed under CC0
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Freeth, John [pseud. John Free] (1731–1808), innkeeper and political ballad writer
John Horden
revised by Nicholas Benbow
Freeth, John [pseud. John Free] (1731–1808), innkeeper and political ballad writer, was born at the Bell Tavern, Philip Street, Birmingham, the second of three sons of Charles Freeth, landlord of the Bell, and his wife, Mary. All three sons were trained for a trade: ...
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Galloway, Robert (1752–1794), bookseller and poet
Hamish Whyte
Galloway, Robert (1752–1794), bookseller and poet, was born in Stirling in June 1752. Little is known about him; the earliest biographical reference is in James Robertson's Lives of Scottish Poets (1822). Some information can be gleaned from his only book, Poems, epistles and songs, chiefly in the Scottish dialect: to which are added, a brief account of the revolution in 1688, and a narrative of the rebellion in 1745–46, continued to the death of Prince Charles in 1788...
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Harris, John (1820–1884), poet and miner
Megan A. Stephan
Harris, John (1820–1884), poet and miner, was born at Six Chimneys Cottage, Bolennowe Hill, Camborne, Cornwall, on 14 October 1820, the eldest of the ten children of John Harris (d. 1848), miner and farmer, and his wife, Christianna Smith (d. 1881)...
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Hinchliffe, William (1691–1742), poet and bookseller
James Sambrook
Hinchliffe, William (1691–1742), poet and bookseller, was born on 12 May 1691 and baptized on 24 May at St Olave, Southwark, the son of Edward Hinchliffe, a tradesman, and Elizabeth, née Hurt. He was educated at a private grammar school in Reigate, Surrey...
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Hopkin, Lewis (1707/8–1771), poet and artisan
C. W. Lewis
Hopkin, Lewis (1707/8–1771), poet and artisan, was the youngest son of Lewis Hopkin (c.1675–1756) of Peterston-super-montem, Glamorgan, and Joan (1674/5–1753), daughter of William Thomas of neighbouring Penrhiw-fer. One of his ancestors was the gentleman–poet Hopcyn Tomas Phylip (d. 1597) of ...
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Ivens, Michael William (1924–2001), free-enterprise propagandist and poet
Jim Tomlinson
Ivens, Michael William (1924–2001), free-enterprise propagandist and poet, was born at Leonora, Nicholas Lane, Laindon, Essex, on 15 March 1924, the son of Harry Guest Ivens, a boiler salesman, and his wife, Selena (Nina), née Ailion. His father was a Roman Catholic, and his mother was Jewish; in later life ...