Author: Wilkinson, Isaac
Biography:
WILKINSON, Isaac (1764-1837: ancestry.co.uk)
He was born at Cockermouth, Cumberland, on 25 Feb. 1764 and baptised at All Saints on either 18 or 25 Mar., the son of William Wilkinson. His mother’s name is not given on the baptism record but she may have been the Mary Brown who married William Wilkinson in 1763. He was educated at Cockermouth Free School, where one of his school-fellows was Fletcher Christian (1764-93), the leader of the 1789 mutiny of the Bounty. In a note to his “Lines to Lord Byron” in Poetical Works (1824), he responded to Byron’s criticisms of the mutineers in “The Island; or Christian and His Comrades” (1823) and countered that “he was mild, generous, and sincere . . . and though harsh treatment may not justify revolt, yet, morally speaking, it lessens the offence.”. Another poem, “Lines on Mr. Scarlett’s Poor Bill’” (of c.1821) objects to the MP James Scarlett’s proposal for withholding relief to the undeserving poor: “If this be legislation and civilization, give us the trackless desert, the tangled forest, the barren mountains, for our residence; wild beasts for fellow commoners.” He was probably the Isaac Wilkinson who took part in the Cockermouth Mechanics Newsroom meeting on the Liberty of the Press in August 1833. He married Jane Harrison (1767-1852) on 2 August 1788 at Cockermouth. They had at least three children. He died on 7 Jan. 1837 at South Street, Cockermouth, and was buried at All Saints. His wife, Jane, died in 1852. At the end of Poetical Works (1824), he announced the publication by subscription of two poems: Mary Queen of Scots and The Exile. Mary Stuart, A Poem was published somewhat later and in 1835 he inscribed a presentation copy, describing himself as “a poor weaver from Cockermouth.” Newspaper obituaries confirm that he was a weaver. The Exile may also have been published but no copy has been located. (ancestry.co.uk 29 Jul. 2023; findmypast.co.uk 29 Jul. 2023; Carlisle Journal 17 Aug. 1833, 14 Jan. 1837, 12 Mar. 1852; cockermouth.org.uk/graves) AA