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Author: Hayley, William

Biography:

Hayley, William (1745-1820: ODNB)

Wealthy and well educated, Hayley had mixed success as a writer and patron of the arts. His parents were Thomas and Mary (Yates) Hayley. He was born in Chichester and attended Eton and Cambridge; if he left the university without a degree, it seems to have been merely because he had no use for one. When his first efforts as a writer for theatre failed, he turned to poetry and published prolifically. His greatest success was The Triumphs of Temper (1781), which went into many editions and was a common gift to girls. He declined the offer of the Poet Laureateship in 1790. Among the artists and writers whom he encouraged with friendship and financial support were Romney, Cowper, and Blake. His one novel, The Young Widow, or, the History of Cornelia Sedley (1789) did not do well, but his biographies--of Milton (1796), Cowper (1803), and Romney (1809)--fared better. He also left his own memoirs for posthumous publication (1823). He married twice but both marriages ended in separation. His son Tom, from an extramarital affair, died young. (ODNB 1 Mar. 2019)

 

Books written (71):

London: Fielding and Walker, 1779
2nd edn. London: Dodsley, 1779
New edn. London: [no publisher], 1780
2nd edn. London: Dodsley, 1781
Dublin: White, Jenkin, Wilson, Byrn, Walker, Lynch, 1781
2nd edn. Dublin: Sleater, White, Wilson, Walker, Lynch, and Byrne, 1782
Chichester: [no publisher: printed by Dennett Jaques], 1783
Dublin: Price, Colles, Gilbert and others, 1784
London: Cadell, 1785
Dublin: Moncrieffe, Jenkin and others, 1785
New edn. London: Cadell, 1788
Philadelphia: Enoch Story, [1789?]
Philadelphia: Enoch Tory, [1791?]
1st American edn. Newburyport [MA]: Joseph H. Seymour, [1794]
Boston: J. White. S. Hall, Thomas and Andrews, D. West, W. Spotswood, E. Larking, J. West, and the proprietor of the Boston Bookstore, 1794 [and 1795]
8th edn. London: Cadell and Davies, 1795
9th edn. London: Cadell and Davies, 1796
London: F. and C. Rivington, and J. Hatchard, 1798
10th edn. London: T. Cadell, Jr., and W. Davies, 1799
11th edn. London: T. Cadell, Jr., and W. Davies, 1801
Chichester/ London: printed by J. Seagrave/ J. Johnson, 1803, 1804
New York: T. and J. Swords, 1803
12th edn. Chichester/ London: printed by J. Seagrave/ T. Cadell and W. Davies, 1803
Kennebunk [ME]/ Portsmouth [NH]: printed by S. Sewall/ William and David Treadwell, 1804
Chichester/ London: printed by J. Seagrave/ Richard Phillips, 1805 [issued in parts in 1802]
Philadelphia: Benjamin Johnson, Jacob Johnson, and Robert Johnson, 1805
New edn. Chichester/ London: printed by J. Seagrave/ J. Johnson, 1806
New York: T. B. Jansen, 1806
13th edn. London: Cadell and Davies, 1807
New edn. Chichester/ London: printed by W. Mason/ J. Johnson, 1809
London: Cadell and Davies, 1809
Chichester/ London: printed by William Mason/ T. Cadell and W. Davies, 1811
New edn. Chichester/ London: printed by W. Mason/ T. Cadell and W. Davies, 1812
New edn. Chichester/ London: printed by William Mason/ T. Cadell and W. Davies, 1817
Chichester: printed for the author by W. Mason, 1818
London: Henry Colburn and Co., and Simpkin and Marshall, 1823
New edn. London: Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy, Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Co., J. Booker, R. Hunter, Baynes and Son, R. Saunders, Simpkin and Marshall, and Hurst and Robinson, 1824
Chiswick/ London: printed by C. Whittingham/ C. S. Arnold, 1824