Skip to main content

Author: Linley, George E.

Biography:

Linley, George E. (1797-1865: ancestry.co.uk)

He was born at Briggate, Leeds, to James Linley and Ann (maiden name possibly Townsley) Linley. He was tutored by a Quaker before attending Leeds Grammar School. At the age of sixteen he was an ensign in the West Yorkshire militia. At about this time some satirical verses he published in the Leeds Intelligencer annoyed local dignitaries and he fled first to London and, in the early 1820s, to Edinburgh. There he married Violet Gilchrist in 1824; they had three daughters and at least one son. His Recreative Hours belongs to this period; it seems to be the only publication where his name includes a middle initial (no middle name is given in his record of baptism). In the late 1820s they moved to London where his career as a writer of lyrics and music flourished. Many of his songs are sentimental and their popularity has not endured but two later books of poetry—Musical Cynics of London (1862) and The Modern Hudibras (1864)—are satirical. He died at home in Kensington and was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery. (ODNB 1 Oct 2019; ancestry.co.uk 1 Oct 2019)

 

Books written (1):

Edinburgh/ London: Maclachlan and Stewart/ Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy, 1822