Author: Cary, Henry Francis
Biography:
CARY, Henry Francis (1772-1844: ODNB)
Cary's father William was serving in Gibraltar when his son was born there, but he left the army and settled in Staffordshire about 1778. Henry Francis Cary began publishing his poems even before going up to Oxford in 1790. Disappointed of a College fellowship, he was ordained in 1796 and took up his first vicarage; in the same year, he married Jane Ormsby, with whom he had six sons and two daughters. His landmark translations of Dante were not at first a success, but they grew in reputation and readership after Coleridge praised them in public lectures in 1818. Cary became assistant keeper of printed books at the British Museum in 1826 but episodes of mental illness hampered promotion and he resigned his post in 1837 when the Trustees appointed Panizzi to the post of keeper instead of him. He is buried in Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey. (ODNB 27 Feb. 2018)
Other Names:
- H. F. Cary
- Cary