Miller, Thomas

(1807-1874)

   "The basket-maker poet" was born at Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, the son of a wharf owner who disappeared when his son was three, leaving the family in poverty. His fortunes started to change on the publication of Songs of the Sea Nymphs (1832). He moved to London where, in 1838, some of his poems were printed in the magazine Friendship's Offering, for which he was paid. Around 1841 he set up business as a bookseller in Newgate Street and become acquainted with many of the literary figures of the day. He died at Kennington Park Road, London. He wrote novels, many children's books and a history of the Anglo-Saxons from the Earliest Period to the Norman Conquest (1848), which went to five editions. Some of his other poetry publications: A Day in the Woods, 1836. Poems, 1841. Original Poems for My Children, 1852. The Poetical Language of Flowers, 1855. Original Songs, 1861. Birds, Bees, and Blossoms, 1864. Songs of the Seasons, 1865. Some of his poems: "Evening," "Summer Morning," "The Alarm," "The Desolate Hall," "The Fountain," "The Sea-Deeps," "The Watercress Seller."

   Sources: A Child's Treasury of Poems. Mark Daniel, ed. Dial / Penguin Books, 1986. 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). 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 Eternal Sea: An Anthology of Sea Poetry. W.M. Williamson, ed. Coward-McCann, 1946. The Poorhouse Fugitives: Self-Taught Poets and Poetry in Victorian Britain. Brian Maidment, ed. Carcanet, 1987.