Hurdis, James

(1763-1801)

   Born at Bishopstone in East Sussex, he was educated at Chichester and St. Mary Hall, Oxford, and graduated from Magdalen College. From 1785 to 1791 he was curate of Burwash in East Sussex. In 1791, through the interest of the Earl of Chichester, to whose son he had been tutor, he was appointed to the living of Bishopstone. He was professor of poetry at Magdalen College, Oxford, from 1793 until his death at Buckland in Berkshire, while staying at the house of his friend Dr. Rathbone. Some of his publications: Poems: By the Author of the Village Curate, and Adriano, 1790. The Tragedy of Sir Thomas More, 1792. Tears of Affliction. 1794 (on the death of his sister Catharine). A poem, written towards the close of the year 1794, Upon a prospect of the Marriage of the Prince of Wales, 1795. Poems: By the Rev. James Hurdis, 1808. The Relapse, 1810. The Favourite Village, 1810. The Village Curate, and Other Poems, 1810. Some of his poems: "Adriano; or, The First of June," "Peasants at Work," "The Student."

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. English Poetry, Second Edition Bibliography (http://collections.chadwyck.co.uk/html/ep2/bibliography/g.htm). English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995 (http://www.lib. utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html). Oxford Professors of Poetry, James Hurdis (http://www.people.vcu.edu/Hurdis, Jamesdlatane/pop.html). Professorships Held by the Inklings (http://home.earthlink.net/Hurdis, Jamesdbratman/profs.html). Stanford University Libraries and Academic Information Resources (http://library.stanford.edu). 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. The Penguin Book of Bird Poetry. Peggy Munsterberg, ed. 1984.