Nicholson, John

(1790-1843)

   Born at Weardley, near Harewood, Yorkshire, he received a grammar school education at Eldwick, near Bingley, Yorkshire, then worked as a wool-sorter for all his working life except for intervals when he was hawking his poems. A heavy drinker, he turned to Methodism, and for a time was a local preacher, but failed to keep the "pledge" and he returned to drink. He is buried in Bingley churchyard. Nicholson's first published work was The Siege of Bradford (1821), a dramatic poem which, along with a three-act drama, The Robber of the Alps, was written for the Bradford old theater. The outstanding success of Airedale in Ancient Times (1825) secured him the title of "the Airedale poet." Some of his other publications: The Airedale poet's walk, 1826. Lines on the Present Distress of the Country, 1830. Lines on the present state of the country, 1826. Lines, suggested by the near approach of the cholera, 1831. Poems, 1859. The Poetical Works, 1876. Some of his poems: "On a Calm Summer's Night," "The Bible," "The Factory Child's Mother," "The Wish of the Drunkard's Family," "Wakening of the Poet's Harp."

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. English Love Poems. John Betjeman and Geoffrey Taylor, eds. Faber and Faber, 1957. English Poetry: Author Search. ChadwyckHealey Ltd., 1995 (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html). Stanford University Libraries and Academic Information Resources (http://library.stanford.edu). The Poorhouse Fugitives: Self-Taught Poets and Poetry in Victorian Britain. Brian Maidment, ed. Carcanet, 1987.