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Author: Knight, Samuel

Biography:

KNIGHT, Samuel (1754-1835: findagrave.com)

There were several generations of Samuels in this family, a fact that has been the source of some confusion in library catalogues. Although Knight's one book of poetry was published anonymously, the attribution is solid because he sent a copy through a mutual friend to Horace Walpole, who identified him as the author in a note in the volume and also wrote--again through the friend--to thank him for his gift and to praise his work as "very classic, and beautiful and tender" (Correspondence 16: 267). Samuel Knight was baptised in Fulham, London, on 20 Jul. 1754; he was an only child. The maiden name of his mother Elizabeth is not known. His father Samuel (1718-90), the only son of Samuel (1677/8-1746), Prebendary of Ely, followed his father into the Church as rector of Stanwick, Northamptonshire. All three were alumni of Trinity College Cambridge. In 1766 Knight's father purchased an estate at Milton, Cambridgeshire, which became the family seat; Knight inherited it on his father's death and left it to his widow during her lifetime. Knight was educated at Stanwick School and Trinity (BA 1776, MA 1779) and may have studied law at Middle Temple, where he was registered in 1772, but he does not appear to have been called to the bar. He married Frances Cave-Browne (d 1844), the sister of a baronet, and they had an only son, Samuel, who died in 1829 "in the 39th year of his age" according to the monument by Chantrey in All Saints Church, Milton. Another monument records the deaths of his parents Samuel and Frances in 1835 and 1844 respectively. (findagrave.com 20 Jun. 2021; The Yale Edition of the Correspondence of Horace Walpole [1937-83]; ancestry.com 20 Jun. 2021; findmypast.com 20 Jun. 2021; ACAD 20 Jun. 2021)

 

 

Books written (1):

London: Cadell, 1785