Author: SHARP, William
Biography:
SHARP, William (c. 1734-94: ancestry.co.uk)
The date and place of his birth or baptism, together with the names of his parents, are as yet unknown but his father was probably William Sharp. Nothing is known of his education. He is known to have been at Newport in the Isle of Wight at least as early as 1757 when he befriended the poet William Vernon, who addressed him in an “Epistle to Mr. W. Sharp, Junior, of Newport, in the Isle of Wight” (GM Sept. 1757, 421; repr. Poems on Several Occasions [1758], 90-92.) He married Sarah Gosse (1734-1805) on 12 May 1757 at her parish of Ringwood, Hampshire. They had several children whom they registered at the Unitarian chapel in Newport. His early poem Sincerity (Newport 1763) is rare with the only known copy at the Bodleian. He played an active role in the civic, political, and literary life on the island. He was elected to the Friends of Liberty in London in 1771 and later became a leading member of the Revolution Society at Newport, giving an oration on the anniversary in 1789 which was later printed (copy in the Bodleian). He contributed several poems to the Hampshire Chronicle. He traded as a miller and acquired land and property. He died at Newport on 14 Oct. 1794, leaving his estate to his wife, Sarah. She died in 1805. After his death, Thomas Nutt (q.v.) was probably the author of a eulogy, “Stanzas on the Death of Mr. Sharp, Miller, of Newport, in the Isle of Wight [by] T. N.” (GM Oct. 1795, 862). (ancestry.co.uk 23 Jan. 2025; findmypast.co.uk 23 Jan. 2025; Hampshire Chronicle 20 July 1789, 20 Oct. 1794; British Press 19 Feb. 1805; Hampshire Record Office wills) AA
Other Names:
- Sharp, William, Jr.