THELWALL, JOHN (1764-1834), reformer, lecturer and poet;
son of Joseph Thelwall (1731-1772), silk merchant of London, descended from a branch of the Thelwall family of Plas y Ward (DWB, 932-3) which settled in Crosby, Lancashire. He was b. at Chandos Street, Covent Garden, 27 July 1764. He published Poems upon various subjects (London, 1787), and became editor of Biographical and Imperial Magazine. He came under the spell of the French Revolution, and joined the Society of the Friends of the People. Because of his extreme radical views, he had to stand trial, 1-5 Dec. 1794, having been imprisoned in the Tower of London since the previous May; however, he was found not guilty. Soon afterwards he published Poems written in close confinement in the Town and Newgate (London, 1795). He took a farm near Llyswen, Breck., c. 1798, but returned to London within two years to lecture mainly on oratory and elocution. He was a friend of Southy, Hazlitt, Coleridge, and Lamb. Poems chiefly written in retirment … with a prefatory memoir of the life of the author (Hereford, 1801) contains several poems relating to Wales. Thelwall also wrote a number of works on political matters and oratory.
He d. at Bath, 17 Feb. 1834. He m. (1), Susan Vellum, (2) Cecil Boyle.
Bibliography:
- Poems Chiefly Written in Retirement (1801);
- D.N.B.
Author:
Dr David Jenkins, C.B.E., M.A., D.Litt., (1912-2002), Penrhyn-coch, Aberystwyth
