Author: NELTHORPE, George
Biography:
NELTHORPE, George (fl 1762-1770)
There is insufficient evidence to determine which of three candidates is the author of Julia and Pollio. The George Nelthorpe who died without issue at Bawtry, Yorkshire, in 1783, inherited the family seat, Seacroft Hall, when his brother James died in 1768. Their father, also George Nelthorpe, died in 1757 whilst “in the commission of peace for [his] county.” The candidate’s armorial plate is preserved in several books. A second candidate is a relative of the Seacroft Nelthorpes, George Nelthorpe, gentleman farmer of Lynford Hall, Norfolk. He was baptized at Mundford in 1744 the younger son of James Nelthorpe (whose guardian was Prime Minister Robert Walpole) and his wife, Ann Hoste (d 1789). In 1783 his elder brother James died and he inherited the Nelthorpe fortune. He was then, variously, justice of the peace, high sheriff, and, promoted lieutenant colonel in 1799, an officer in the Norfolk Militia and in the Western Regiment. He was a widower when in May 1792 he married Sarah Bennett (1756-1826). There is no known record of his first marriage and it is unclear if he had children. He died at Douglas on the Isle of Man in Feb. 1815. Probably the least likely candidate is a third man, George Nelthorpe of King Street, Covent Garden. A wealthy silk mercer, he flourished in the 1770s and 1780s. He had two children by his wife, Elizabeth Scott (married 1771, d 1774). Julia to Pollio was reviewed in MR, CR, London Magazine, and Town and Country. The only other book by George Nelthorpe is a 164-line satirical poem published in London in 1762, A Crust for the Critics. Inscribed to the Most Impertinent Puppy on Earth. (ancestry.com 26 Feb. 2025; ACAD; PROB 11/1604; Essex Record Office D/DCcF10; London Gazette) JC