Kennedy, William

(1799-1871)

   Born in Dublin, the son of a manufacturer, he studied journalism at Belfast College in 1819, then at Dr. Lawson's seminary for dissenting students at Selkirk, Scotland. He worked for William Motherwell (see entry) on Paisley Magazine. Moving to London in 1833, he became secretary to the Earl of Durham, whom he accompanied to Canada. In 1839 he traveled in Texas and the United States to study local government in principal cities. He became Texas consul in London and British consul in Galveston from 1842 until Texas gained independence from Mexico in 1836, to became the 28th state in 1845. He died in Paris. His poem, "Lines, Written after a Visit to the Grave of My Friend, William Motherwell, November" (1847), is a tribute to their long friendship. Many of Kennedy's lyrics are in Whistle Binkie (1890) by Alexander Abernethy Ritchie. Some of Kennedy's other publications: Fitful Fancies, 1827 (a collection of short poems). The Arrow and the Rose, and Other Poems, 1830. The Continental Annual and Romantic Cabinet for 1832, 1831. The Siege of Antwerp, 1838 (an historical play). The Rise, Progress, and Prospects of the Republic of Texas, 1841.

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Handbook of Texas Online: Kennedy, William (http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/KK/fke25.html). ScotsteXt! Roughs (http://www.scotstext.org/roughs/whistlebinkie/whistlebinkie%20_prefaces.asp). The Poetical Works of William Motherwell. Alexander Gardner, 1881. The Texas Historical Commission (http://www.thc.state.tx.us/triviafun/trvdefault.html).