Author: WEST, George
Biography:
WEST, George (fl 1820)
Although his only known work in verse, The Chieftain of the Vale (1820), was published anonymously, early publicity revealed the author’s name, George West. The volume contains, besides the long title poem, an allegory entitled “Hygeia,” and some shorter occasional pieces, such as “Home: written on the Banks of the Thames, in Berkshire.” The review in MR was not kind, characterising the work as full of “silly sentimentality, and violent distortions of style,” so it is hardly surprising that West did not try that vein again. His name is common enough that it is not yet possible to identify him with certainty. One George West (c. 1768-1831) wrote two pamphlets in the late 1820s in favour of establishing local “friendly societies” to assist the poor, using the example of his birthplace of Farnham, Surrey. He was a clergyman, the rector of Stoke next Guildford from 1795 until his death. Another possibility is the third son of Jane and Thomas West, who was born on 18 Oct. 1766 and baptised at St. Mary-at-Hill, London, on 10 Nov. that year. His father was a merchant. He was educated at Eton and went up to St. John’s College, Cambridge, in 1783 but did not proceed to a degree, instead entering Lincoln’s Inn in 1784 to study law. Both these men would have been rather old to be producing a first volume of poems in 1820, but no more likely candidate has been discovered. (ancestry.com 11 June 2025; findmypast 11 June 2025; Alumni Oxonienses; ACAD; CCEd 11 June 2025) HJ