Jackson Bibliography of Romantic Poetry

CAMPBELL, Thomas (1777-1844: ODNB)

Born at Glasgow on 27 July 1777, he was the youngest child of Alexander Campbell and Margaret (Campbell) Campbell. He was educated at Glasgow Grammar School and at the University of Glasgow, where he initially intended preparing to become a minister in the Church of Scotland. However, he quickly became known for his poetic ability and, after working for a time as a tutor, he moved to Edinburgh where his literary career was established with The Pleasures of Hope. He travelled in Europe before marrying Mathilda Sinclair on 10 Oct. 1803; the couple had two sons, Thomas and Alison, but Alison died in childhood and Thomas became incapacitated by mental illness during his teens. Family life meant a need for secure income, and Campbell gave public lectures on poetry, edited Specimens of the British Poets, and was editor of The New Monthly Magazine (1820-30). He successfully promoted the establishment of what was to become University College London and became an enthusiastic and important supporter of Polish independence. In 1826, two years before Mathilda’s death, he was named Rector of Glasgow University. His last major poem was Theodric (1824); later publications include biographies of Sarah Siddons (1834) and Petrarch (1841), and an account of his visit to Algeria (Records from the South, 1837). Campbell died on 15 June 1844 at Boulogne where he had travelled with a niece for his health; he is buried in Poets’ Corner, Westminster Abbey. (ODNB 31 Aug 2018) SR

• Campbell

Books written (111):