Author: Thew, William
Biography:
THEW, William (fl 1825)
Thew’s only known publication supplies both an engraved portrait of the young author as a frontispiece and an anecdotal autobiography as an introduction to the book. Most curiously, no public records have been found to confirm the story apart from two publishers’ advertisements for his book. There was a William Thew who died and was buried at Globe Fields burial ground, Stepney, London, on 20 Apr. 1828, who was a Wesleyan Methodist dissenter—which might explain the absence of parish records—but the year of birth given is 1801. According to Thew, he was born on 6 Nov. 1794 at Ipswich, Suffolk, the youngest of six children of a prosperous lawyer; his unnamed mother died when he was an infant. He attended the local grammar school and showed a precocious talent for witty verses. He was intended for the law, but was strongly drawn to the stage—a career that seemed to be closed to him because he had a severe speech impediment. As a young man he travelled to the West Indies and to Spain. After the death of his father, which left him with a small legacy, he undertook to cure himself of his impediment by memorizing major theatrical roles, especially Shakespearean ones, and reciting them outdoors. He mentions practising in Kensington Gardens, so he must have lived for a time in London. In 1815 he married, and in 1822 he mourned the death of their firstborn, aged six. There are no credible matches for any of these events in the public record. Thew was certainly stage-struck: most of the poems and the one essay in the book treat of theatrical subjects. He claims to have been introduced to Byron (q.v.), who offered him encouragement but did not live to see the outcome of Thew’s efforts. His book also contains a challenge to leading actors to compete with him in any one of a dozen roles for a prize of 100 sovereigns (£100). Unless the date of birth on the death record is an error and he died in 1828, he remains a mystery. (ancestry.com 14 Aug. 2024; findmypast.com 14 Aug. 2024; William Thew, Poems on Various Subjects, chiefly Theatrical [1825]) HJ