Dixon, Richard Watson

(1833-1900)

   Historian, pre-Raphaelite poet and clergyman, born at Islington, Birmingham, the son of a distinguished Wesleyan preacher. Educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham, he graduated from Pembroke College, Oxford, in 1857 and was ordained in 1858. He was second master at Carlisle High School from 1863 to 1868 and minor canon and honorary librarian of Carlisle Cathedral from 1868 to 1875. He received the honorary degree of D.D. from Oxford in 1899. He died at Warkworth, Northumberland. Some of his publications: The Close of the Tenth Century of the Christian Era, 1858 (the Arnold essay prize). Christ's Company, 1861 (poems). St. John in Patmos, 1863 (the Cramer prize for a sacred poem). Historical Odes, 1863. Odes and Eclogues, 1884. Lyrical Poems, 1886. History of the Church of England from the Abolition of the Roman Jurisdiction, 1878-1902 (covering the period from 1529 to 1570). He completed six volumes, two of which were published posthumously. Some of his poems: "Humanity," "Love's Consolation," "Rapture: an Ode," "Song: The Feathers of the Willow," "The Judgment of the May," "The Wizard's Funeral," "Winter Will Follow."

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995 (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html). Oldpoetry (www.oldpoetry.com). The Collected Poems of Canon Richard Watson Dixon (1833-1900). Peter Lang Publishing, 1989. 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 Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia). (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/