Author: Daniel, George
Biography:
DANIEL, George (1789-1864: ODNB)
The son of George Daniel (d 1837) and his second wife Margaret Hewitt, he was born on 16 Sept. 1789 and baptised on 21 Oct. in Christ Church, Newgate Street, London. He was descended from Huguenots through his father. The ODNB states that he was educated at Thomas Hogg’s school in Paddington Green but the source for this is uncertain. A Thomas Hogg in Paddington Green was a well-known writer on floristry at the time, and another Thomas Hogg (q.v.) was master of the school in Redruth, Cornwall, but it seems unlikely—although not impossible—that Daniel would have been educated by either of these men. He became an accountant at a stockbroker’s offices in Tokenhouse Yard, London. Daniel collaborated with a friend, Edwin Bentley, on Stanzas on Lord Nelson’s Death and Victory, published as by “G. D. and E. B.” in 250 copies in 1806; at 7 pages it is too short to be included here but is of interest as Daniel’s first known poem and for the ms note in his hand in the BL copy. On 10 Oct. 1810 he married Emma Cato (1787-1863) at St. Luke’s, Chelsea. They had at least five children and the 1841 Census shows them living with three daughters and one of their sons in Canonbury Square, Islington; their near neighbour was Effingham Wilson who published Daniel’s books. The other son, George Hewitt Daniel, emigrated to America and died there in 1864. Daniel’s poems tended to be satiric and this became the mode by which he was best known. He also wrote for the theatre and his Doctor Bolus was acted at the Royal Opera House in 1818, followed by The Disagreeable Surprise (1819), and Sworn at Highgate (1833). He edited John Cumberland’s British Theatre (1829-31) and Cumberland’s Minor Theatre (1831-31), and his contributions to Bentley’s Miscellany were issued as Merrie England in the Olden Time (1842). Daniel also began collecting books and theatrical memorabilia, including a casket made from a tree in Shakespeare’s garden. He died on 30 Mar. 1864 of apoplexy at the home of his son in Stoke Newington and was buried in the cemetery. After the sale of his library and other items, he left an estate of under £18,000. (ODNB 18 June 2024; ancestry.co.uk 18 June 2024; findmypast.co.uk 18 June 2024; National Archives UK PROB 11-1878-18) SR
Other Names:
- G. Daniel