Robert Millhouse (1788-1839) monument, Nottingham (detail). Courtesy Pinterest.
Robert Millhouse (October 1788 - 13 April 1839) was an English poet.
Life[]
Youth and education[]
Millhouse was born on 14 (or 17?) October 1788, at Nottingham, the 3nd son of John and Mary Millhouse.[1]
His only education was obtained at a Sunday-school. From the age of 10 he worked at a stocking-loom and sang in the choir of St. Peter's Church.[1]
During 1804 with his elder brother John he read much poetry, including the works of Shakespeare, Milton, Pope, and Gray.[1]
Career[]
In 1810, at the age of 22, Millhouse joined the Nottinghamshire militia, and it was while with his regiment at Plymouth that his earliest verses were written and sent to the Nottingham Review. When the regiment was disbanded in 1814, Millhouse resumed his weaving, employing his leisure in writing verses.[1]
His poems attracted favourable notice, and he found friends who in 1822 obtained for him a grant from the Royal Literary Fund. 10 years afterwards he became assistant at a savings bank, and was thus able to devote more of his time to literary pursuits.[1]
Millhouse married, in 1818, Eliza Morley, by whom he had 8 children; and in 1836, Marion Moore, by whom he had 2 children. He is described as steady, sober, and honest, but in his later years he looked upon any but literary work as derogatory to his talent.[2]
His friends Thomas Wakefield, Colonel Gardiner, and Mrs. Howitt Watts, daughter of William and Mary Howitt, were of great assistance in his later years, and among those who helped him in his last illness was Ebenezer Elliott.[1]
He died in Nottingham and was buried on the eastern side of the Nottingham cemetery,[1] some lines being inscribed on the tomb a few years later by his friend Dr. Spencer T. Hall.[2]
Writing[]
His poems show facility in versification and true feeling for nature. He handles the sonnet courageously, but his defective education and narrow experiences deprived him of largeness of view or "sustained strength."[2]
Millhouse's published works are:
- Blossoms, a selection of sonnets, with prefatory remarks by L. Booker, LL.D.; 2nd edit. 1823.
- Vicissitude, a poem in 4 books; ‘Nottingham Park’ and other pieces, with preface, by J. Millhouse, Nottingham, 1821.
- ‘The Song of the Patriot,’ sonnets and songs, with brief memoir of the author by J. Millhouse, 1826.
- Sherwood Forest, and other Poems, London, 1827.
- ‘The Destinies of Man,’ London, 1832, printed at Nottingham.
- The ‘Sonnets and Songs of Robert Millhouse,’ a selection from his works with a biographical sketch, edited by J. P. Briscoe, was published at Nottingham in 1881.[2]
Recognition[]
An oak in Sherwood Forest, under which Millhouse and Spencer Hall took refuge during a storm, bears the name of the poet.[2]
Some of his best pieces appear in ‘Sketches of Obscure Poets,’ London, 1833.[2]
Publications[]
- Vicissitude: A poem, in four books; and other pieces. Nottingham, UK: 1821.
- Blossoms: Being a selection of sonnets. London: J. Nichols, for Baldwin, Cradock & Joy / J. Hatchard & Son, 1823.
- The Song of the patriot: Sonnets, and songs. London: Hunter & Dunn, 1826.
- Sherwood Forest, and other poems. London: R. Hunter / J. Dunn, 1827.
- The Destinies of Man. London: Simpkin & Marshall, 1832.
- The Destinies of Man: Part second. London: Simpkin & Marshall, 1834.
- Sonnets and Songs (edited by John Porter Briscoe). Nottingham, UK: Norris & Cokayne / London: Hamilton, Adams, 1881.
Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.[3]
See also[]
References[]
Norgate, Gerald le Grys (1894) "Millhouse, Robert" in Lee, Sidney Dictionary of National Biography 37 London: Smith, Elder, pp. 436-437. Wikisource, Web, Aug. 21, 2016.
Notes[]
External links[]
- Poems
- Robert Millhouse (1788-1839) info & 6 poems at English Poetry, 1579-1830
- Books
- Robert Millhouse at Amazon.com
- About
- Nottingham Famous Graves - Robert Millhouse at Nottingham Hidden History Team
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, the Dictionary of National Biography (edited by Leslie Stephen). London: Smith, Elder, 1885-1900. Original article is at: Millhouse, Robert
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