Author: Randell, Thomas
Biography:
RANDELL, Thomas (fl 1826)
Despite the somewhat unusual spelling of his surname, Thomas Randell has not been traced. He may have been very young when his book was published: it is dedicated to his “beloved parents” and the Advertisement claims that most of the poems were written “when the Author had scarcely attained his seventeenth year, and the remainder under the age of eighteen.” He may have had a connection with the navy: one poem is “The British Sailor’s Prayer” and one, a lament, commemorates a brother lost at sea. Possibly he was the Thomas Randell who was born to John and Elizabeth Randell at Finsbury, Middlesex, on 24 June 1796 and baptised at St. Luke’s, Finsbury, on 8 Nov. However, there is as yet no certain information and no reviews of what seems to have been Randell’s only publication have been located. (findmypast.co.uk 9 Dec. 2024) SR