Author: Wilkins, Thomas
Biography:
WILKINS, Thomas (fl 1778-81)
His is a common name and it has not been possible to identify him in public records with any certainty. That his name is given as “Thomas Wilkins, minor” on the title page of Poems Divine and Moral…Part I (no Part 2 was ever published) indicates that his father’s name was also Thomas. The book is dedicated, with fulsome praise, to his uncle, Thomas Youick (1717-90) of Banbury, Oxfordshire, and his mother’s surname at birth was probably Youick. However, no good matches for her and a Thomas Wilkins have been located. Thomas Youick’s will—which left the bulk of his wealth to another nephew, Thomas Wells—refers to his purchase of property from a Thomas Wilkins of Brackley, Northamptonshire, and it is possible that the author was born in that county. He became a printer and worked initially with W. Oliver of 12 Bartholomew Close, London, before taking over the business in about 1780. A curious note on the title page of the Princeton University library copy of The Fast-Day identifies Wilkins as “printer to Ld. George Gordon.” Just one copy of Wilkins’s Popery Delineated seems to have survived; it names him as the book’s printer. (ancestry.co.uk 6 Jan. 2025; findmypast.co.uk 6 Jan. 2025) SR