Churchill, Charles

(1731-1764)

   London-born Churchill, the son of a clergyman, was educated at Westminster School, although it is uncertain that he went to Cambridge University. He was ordained more from necessity than conviction or desire and succeeded his father as curate of St. John's Westminster in 1758. His fortunes changed with the publication of his satire The Rosciad, influenced by Dryden, and published at his own risk in 1761. He resigned his clerical position in 1763 and his pen became something to be feared in literary circles. Some of his other publications, mainly satires: The Apology, 1761. The Prophecy of Famine, 1762. The Author, 1763. The Epistle to William Hogarth, 1763. The Duellist, 1764 (a defense of his friend John Wilkes, wounded in a duel, The Times, 1764). The epitaph on his gravestone is "Life to the last enjoyed, here Churchill lies," lines from his poem "The Candidate." Some of his other poems: "Character of a Critic," "Dedication," "European Crimes," "Independence," "Night; an Epistle to Robert Lloyd," "The Ghost," "The Journey," "The Pains of Education."

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition, 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995 (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html). Poems of Charles Churchill. Barnes and Noble, 1933. The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.org.uk). The Oxford Book of Satirical Verse. Geoffrey Grigson, ed. Oxford University Press, 1980. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000.