Winthrop Mackworth Praed (28 July 1802 – 15 July 1839)—typically written asW. Mackworth Praed[1]—was anEnglish politician and poet.
Praed was born inLondon,United Kingdom. The family name of Praed was derived from the marriage of the poet's great-grandfather to aCornish heiress. Winthrop's father, William Mackworth Praed, was aserjeant-at-law (1756–1835) and arevising barrister for Bath.[2] His mother belonged to the English branch of theNew England family of Winthrop.[3]
In 1814 Praed was sent toEton College, where he founded a manuscript periodical calledApis matina. This was succeeded in October 1820 by theEtonian, a paper projected and edited by Praed andWalter Blount, which appeared every month until July 1821, when the chief editor, who signed his contributions "Peregrine Courtenay," left Eton, and the paper died.Henry Nelson Coleridge,William Sidney Walker, andJohn Moultrie were the three best known of his collaborators on this periodical, which was published byCharles Knight, and of which details are given in Knight'sAutobiography and inHenry Maxwell Lyte'sEton College.[4]
Before Praed left school he had established, over a shop at Eton, a "boys' library," the books of which were later amalgamated in the School Library. His career atTrinity College, Cambridge was a brilliant one. He gained theBrowne medal forGreek verse four times and theChancellor's Gold Medal for English verse twice in 1823 and 1824.[5] He was bracketed third in the classical tripos in 1825, won a fellowship at his college in 1827, and three years later carried off the Seatonian prize.[6] At theUnion his speeches were rivalled only by those ofMacaulay and ofCharles Austin, who subsequently made a great reputation at theparliamentary bar. The character of Praed during his university life is described byBulwer-Lytton in the first volume of hisLife.[4]
Praed began to study law, and in 1829 was called to the bar at theMiddle Temple. On theNorfolk circuit, his prospects of advancement were bright, but his inclination was towards politics, and after a year or two he took up political life. Whilst at Cambridge he tended toWhiggism, and up to the end of 1829 he continued to have these sympathies, but during the agitation for parliamentary reform his opinions changed, and when he was returned to parliament forSt Germans (17 December 1830),[7] his election was due to theTory party. He sat for that borough until December 1832, and on its extinction contested the borough ofSt Ives, within the limits of which the Cornish estates of the Praeds were situated.[4]
The pieces he wrote on this occasion were collected in a volume printed atPenzance in 1833 and entitledTrash, dedicated without respect toJames Halse, M.P., his successful opponent. Praed sat forGreat Yarmouth from 1835 to 1837, and wasSecretary to the Board of Control during SirRobert Peel's short administration. He sat forAylesbury from 1837 until his death. During the progress of theReform Act 1832 he advocated the creation of three-cornered constituencies, in which each voter should have the power of giving two votes only, and maintained thatfreeholds withinboroughs should confer votes for the boroughs and not for the county. Neither of these suggestions was then adopted, but the former ultimately formed part of theReform Act 1867.[4]
In 1835, he married Helen Bogle. He died oftuberculosis at Chester Square, London, at age 36.
W. Mackworth Praed was famed for hisverse charades.[1]H. Austin Dobson praised Praed's "sparkling wit, the clearness and finish of his style, and the flexibility and unflagging vivacity of his rhythm" (Humphry Ward'sEnglish Poets). His verse abounded in allusions to the characters and follies of the day. His humour was much imitated.[4]
His poems were first edited byRufus Wilmot Griswold (New York, 1844); another American edition, by W. A. Whitmore, appeared in 1859; an authorized edition with a memoir byDerwent Coleridge appeared in 1864:The Political and Occasional Poems of W. M. Praed (1888),[8] edited with notes by his nephew,Sir George Young, included many pieces collected from various newspapers and periodicals. Sir George Young separated from his work some poems, the work of his friendEdward FitzGerald, generally confused with his. Praed's essays, contributed to various magazines, were published in Morley'sUniversal Library in 1887.[4]
Praed was not only successful at Eton during his lifetime, but a society still exists that bears his name. The "Praed" society is the poetry society currently existing at Eton.[9] It meets at a master's house and membership is by invitation.[citation needed]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Praed, Winthrop Mackworth".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 22 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 240–241.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forSt Germans 1830–1832 With:Charles Ross | Constituency abolished |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forGreat Yarmouth 1835–1837 With:Thomas Baring | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forAylesbury 1837–1839 With:William Rickford | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| People | |
| Other | |
