Rev. Francis Fawkes

Francis Fawkes, son of a clergyman, was born near Doncaster and studied at Jesus College Cambridge (M.A. 1745); he was curate of Croyden, vicar of Orphington (1755) and Downe (1774-77). Fawkes's translations of Greek poetry were several times reprinted; his English poems appeared in the supplement to Dodsley's Collection of Poems entitled The Poetical Calendar (1763). Fawkes had some reputation as a minor English poet, being best known for his popular song, The Brown Jug.

TEXT RECORDS:

1755An Autumnal Ode.
1767The Idylliums of Theocritus: Preface.

PUBLICATIONS:

Branham Park. 1745.
A description of May, from Gawen Douglas. 1752.
A description of winter, from Gawen Douglas. 1754.
The works of Anacreon, Sappho, Bion, Moschus, and Musaeus, translated. 1760.
The complete family Bible. 2 vols, 1761.
Original poems and translations. 1761.
The poetical calendar: intended as a supplement to Dodsley's collection. 12 vols, 1763.
The poetical magazine: or the Muses' monthly companion. 1764.
The idylliums of Theocritus, translated. 1767.
Partridge-shooting: an eclogue. 1767.
The works of Horace, in English verse. 1767.
The argonautics of Appolonius Rhodius [with H. Meen]. 1780.

PROFILE AND
ASSOCIATES:

English
Anglican

Leeds school
Jesus College Cambridge
Bachelor of Arts
Master of Arts
courtier

clergyman
poet
translator

Christian's Magazine

George Colman
Rev. John Duncombe
William Duncombe
Edward Burnaby Greene
John Hawkesworth
Samuel Johnson
Rev. John Jortin
Rev. William Rider
Christopher Smart
Rev. Joseph Warton
Rev. Thomas Warton
William Woty

REFERENCE:

DNB; NCBEL.

Robert Dodsley, Collection of Poems (1748-58); Annual Register for 1778 (1778) 203; John Nichols, Select Collection of Poems (1780-82); "The Country Vicar" in John Nichols, Select Collection of Poems (1780-82) 8:83-87; Bell's Fugitive Poetry (1789-97); Robert Southey, Specimens of Later English Poets (1807); "Francis Fawkes" European Magazine 54 (September 1808) 193; Chalmers's English Poets (1810); Alexander Chalmers, General Biographical Dictionary (1812-17); John Nichols, Literary Anecdotes (1812-15); Rowland Freeman, Kentish Poets (1821); Robert Watt, Bibliotheca Britannica (1824); John Holland, Poets of Yorkshire (1845); Allibone, Critical Dictionary of English Literature (1858-71; 1882); I. A. Williams, in Byways around Helicon (1921); Fairchild, in Religious Trends in English Poetry (1942); Chadwyck-Healey English Poetry Database (1995); Michael F. Suarez, ed., Dodsley, Collection of Poems (1997) 1:150.

COMMENTARY RECORDS
for Rev. Francis Fawkes:

1.	1745 ca.  William Dodd, "Epigram, occasion'd by reading a merely descriptive Poem, called Barham-Downs" 1745 ca.; Nichols, Select Collection of Poems (1780-82) 7:233.
2.	1760 ca.  A. H. Junior, "On Reading Mr. Fawkes's Translation of the Greek Poets" 1760 ca.; Nichols, Select Collection of Poems (1780-82) 8:94.
3.	1761  William Rider, "To the Rev. Mr. Fawkes, on reading his Complete Family Bible" Bath Journal (14 December 1761) 198.
4.	1769  Anonymous, "Verses sent to a young Nobleman, with Mr. Fawkes's Eclogue, intitled Partridge-Shooting" St. James's Chronicle (12 July 1769).
5.	1771  William Woty, "To Mr. Thomas Lowe, on hearing that he took in Mr. Fawkes's Family Bible, which was published in Weekly Numbers" Middlesex Journal (8 August 1771).
6.	1777  J. C., "In obitum Francisci Fawkes, M.A." St. James's Chronicle (9 September 1777).
7.	1785  William Cowper to Lady Hesketh, 30 November 1785; Southey, Life and Works of Cowper (1835-37) 5:184.
8.	1807  Robert Southey, in Specimens of later English Poets (1807) 3:112.
9.	1808  Anonymous, "Francis Fawkes, M.A." European Magazine 54 (September 1808) 193.
10.	1814  George Dyer, in History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge (1814) 2:85.
11.	1824  George Dyer, in Privileges of the University of Cambridge, Supplement (1824) 2:34.
12.	1845  John Holland, "Francis Fawkes" Poets of Yorkshire; comprising Sketches of the Lives, and Specimens of the Writings of those Children of Song (1845) 76-78.
13.	1848  John Forster, in Life and Times of Oliver Goldsmith (1848; 1871) 1:292-93.
14.	1860  George Gilfillan, in Specimens with Memoirs of the less-known British Poets (1860) 3:219-20.
15.	1922  Iolo Williams, in By-Ways around Helicon (1922) 113.

BIOGRAPHY RECORDS
for Rev. Francis Fawkes:

1.	1780  John Nichols, in Select Collection of Poems with Notes Biographical and Historical (1780-82) 8:88-89n.
2.	1782  Isaac Reed, in Dodsley, Collection of Poems (1782) 4:292n.
3.	1789  Anonymous, in Bell's Classical Arrangement of Fugitive Poetry (1789-97) 2:168.
4.	1812  Alexander Chalmers, in Works of the English Poets (1810) 16:233-34.
5.	1819  Thomas Campbell, in Specimens of the British Poets (1819; 1845) 544.
6.	1821  Rowland Freeman, in Kentish Poets (1821) 2:324-27.
7.	1844  Robert Chambers, in Cyclopaedia of English Literature (1844; 1850) 2:118.

AUTHOR AS CRITIC:
(commentary records)

1.	1755  William Duncombe:   Francis Fawkes, in "To Dr. Hawkesworth" 1755; Nichols, Select Collection of Poems (1780-82) 8:91-93.
2.	1755  Rev. John Duncombe:   Francis Fawkes, in "To Dr. Hawkesworth" 1755; Nichols, Select Collection of Poems (1780-82) 8:92-93.
3.	1755  John Hawkesworth:   Francis Fawkes, "Horace, Book I. Ep. V. To Dr. Hawkesworth" 1755; Nichols, Select Collection of Poems (1780-82) 8:91-93.
4.	1773  John Hawkesworth:   Francis Fawkes?, "Epitaph on John Hawkesworth, L.L.D." Gentleman's Magazine 43 (December 1773) 614.