Charles Hanbury Williams

Donald W. Nichol (Memorial University of Newfoundland)

Ed. by Nicholas Seager, University of Keele
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.05: English Writing and Culture from the Glorious Revolution to the French Revolution, 1689-1789.
Vol. editors: Paul Baines (University of Liverpool), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Pat Rogers (University of South Florida), Nicholas Seager (University of Keele)

Dates

Born 8 Dec 1708
Died 2 Nov 1759

Places

Active in England; Wales

Activities

Primary

Poet
Satirist

Other

Politician

Resources

Hanbury Williams' Works

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Sir Charles Hanbury Williams mixed a career as an MP and diplomat with the cut and thrust of a satiric poet. Influenced by Alexander Pope, he started his sideline as a rhyming political pundit just as the older poet was bidding his fond farewell in

The Dunciad

. Born Charles Hanbury in London on 8 December 1708, he was the fourth of six sons of John Hanbury (1664?–1734) and his second wife, Bridget (d. 1741),

née

Ayscough of Lincolnshire. The Hanbury family owned iron-mines and foundries in the south of Wales dating back to the 1570s. The poet’s father had attended Pembroke College, Oxford, and begun legal training at Middle Temple before returning to run the family business in Pontypool, Monmouthshire.

How Charles Hanbury acquired the surname Williams on his 21st birthday reads like

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3314 words

Citation: Nichol, Donald W.. "Charles Hanbury Williams". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 February 2024 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=14955, accessed 21 November 2024.]