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Author: Chown, William

Biography:

CHOWN, William (1753-1819: ancestry.co.uk)

He was baptised on 11 Nov. 1753 at Moulton, Northamptonshire, the eldest of the four sons and four daughters of William Chown (1725-1812) and his wife Susanna Bayley (1729-1812), who had married in 1752. Nothing is known of his early life and he said he had not had “the advantages of a liberal education.” Nevertheless, in 1789 he took over the running of the local school and began advertising it as a boarding school in 1790. His English Language Epitomised:or, a short, plain, easy compendium of English grammar, for the use of youth at schools [1788] probably grew out of his experience as a schoolmaster.   He continued to advertise and run the boarding school up until his death. He acknowledged that his Original Miscellaneous Poems (1818) lacked “the elegancies of Language, or the rhapsodical imagery of Fiction” but claimed they were “friendly to good order, virtue and religion.” Despite much tedious religious and occasional verse, there were competent attempts at subjects often favoured by better-educated poets: "A Tribute to the Memory of William Cowper," "Sonnet on . . . the Slave Trade," "Thoughts on the Death of H. R. H. the Princess Charlotte." He died on 26 Mar. 1819 and was buried on 31 Mar. at Moulton. He does not appear to have married.(ancestry.co.uk 7 Jul. 2021; findmypast.co.uk 7 Jul. 2021; Northampton Mercury school advertisements 1790-1817 various issues, and death report, 3 Apr. 1819; Johnson item 185) AA

 

Books written (1):

Northampton/ London/ Wellingborough/ Kettering/ Moulton: Abel/ Longman and Co./ March/ Dash/ the author, 1818