Winthrop Mackworth Praed
Winthrop Mackworth Praed was a notable British poet and politician, born in London in 1802 into a prosperous middle-class family. He began his literary journey at Eton, where he wrote light verse and co-founded a magazine that evolved into the Etonian literary journal. Praed continued his education at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he gained recognition as a debater and won multiple prestigious literary awards. After graduating, he worked as a private tutor, studied law, and briefly published a journal with Charles Knight. He entered Parliament in 1830, during which time he produced his most respected works, including the series "Poems of Life and Manners," known for its blend of sentimental and neoclassical influences. Although initially aligned with the Whigs, his political stance shifted to Toryism after the passing of the Reform Bill. Praed's health declined after a bout of influenza, which ultimately led to his early death from consumption in 1839, just short of his thirty-seventh birthday. He is remembered for his engaging poetry that captures the essence of early nineteenth-century British society.
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Winthrop Mackworth Praed
Politician
- Born: July 26, 1802
- Birthplace: London, England
- Died: July 15, 1839
Biography
British parliamentarian Winthrop Mackworth Praed is remembered for lighthearted portraits of early nineteenth century British society, written in verse, as well as for some political poetry. Born in London in 1802 to a well-off middle-class family, Praed began writing light verse while a student at Eton. He started a magazine, Apis matina, which eventually evolved into a printed literary journal known as the Etonian. Praed was a writer and editor at Etonian from 1820 through 1821. He began study at Cambridge University’s Trinity College in 1821, where, preceded by his reputation from Eton, he became one of the most accomplished debaters in the Cambridge Union, alongside future author Thomas Babington Macaulay. Praed won the Seatonian Prize, received the Browne Medal for Greek verse four times, and won the Chancellor’s Medal for English verse twice, in 1823 and 1824, around the time he began publishing both light verse and political poems in newspapers.
After his graduation from Cambridge, he became a private tutor and began to read law. Along with Charles Knight, publisher of Knight’s Quarterly Magazine, which had been among the first periodicals to publish Praed’s verse, he started a short-lived journal known as the Brazen Head. He received a Trinity Fellowship in 1827, was admitted to the bar in 1829, and won a seat in Parliament in 1830, which he held until the Reform Bill passed in 1832.
It was during these years that he wrote his most respected poems, including the series Poems of Life and Manners which contains many of his most famous verse narratives and tales. Although he lived during the literary period classified as English Romanticism, his verse was more sentimental, with neoclassical elements informing his political writing. He did not consider himself a professional writer, and he did not work to polish his verse; he intended his poetry to be diverting and entertaining and described himself as a “rhymer” rather than a poet. Of the significant poets who lived during his lifetime, however, only Lord Byron received the praise that was bestowed upon Praed.
After the loss of his parliamentary seat in 1832, Praed’s verse focused almost exclusively on political issues and he wrote an increasing number of journalistic opinion pieces. Although he was Whiggish at the onset of his political career, the Reform Bill instigated a turn to Toryism and he won another parliamentary seat as a Tory in 1834, serving as first secretary to the Board of Control. He married in 1835 and had two daughters before he fell ill of influenza in 1836. Although he continued to work, writing, making speeches to Parliament, and accepting political positions, including the deputy high steward of Cambridge University, Praed never fully recovered from the influenza, and he died of consumption shortly before his thirty- seventh birthday in 1839.