James Hammond (1710–1742) was an English poet and politician.

Life

Born on 22 May 1710, he was the second son of

Anthony Hammond Anthony Hammond (1668–1738), of Somersham Place, Huntingdonshire and Lidlington, Bedfordshire, was an English official and Tory politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1695 and 1708. He was also known as a poet a ...

of Somersham Place,

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and a historic county of England. The district council is based in Huntingdon. Other towns include St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots and Ramsey. The popul ...

, who married Jane, only daughter of Sir Walter Clarges. His mother was famous for her wit; the father was a wit, politician, and spendthrift. Hammond was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

; at about the age of 18

Noel Broxholme Noel Broxholme, M.D. (1686–1748), was an English physician. Early life Broxholme was, according to Dr. Stukeley, a native of Stamford, Lincolnshire, of humble origin. He was admitted on the foundation at Westminster School in 1700, and in 1704 ...

, his future brother-in-law, introduced him to

Lord Chesterfield Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, (22 September 169424 March 1773) was a British statesman, diplomat, and man of letters, and an acclaimed wit of his time. Early life He was born in London to Philip Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Ches ...

. He soon became a member of the clique around

Frederick, Prince of Wales Frederick, Prince of Wales, (Frederick Louis, ; 31 January 170731 March 1751), was the eldest son and heir apparent of King George II of Great Britain. He grew estranged from his parents, King George and Queen Caroline. Frederick was the fath ...

: Cobham, Lyttelton, and Pitt. In 1733 his relative Nicholas Hammond left Hammond £400 a year, and he became attached to the prince's court as an

equerry An equerry (; from French ' stable', and related to 'squire') is an officer of honour. Historically, it was a senior attendant with responsibilities for the horses of a person of rank. In contemporary use, it is a personal attendant, usually up ...

. Through the prince's influence, as Duke of Cornwall, Hammond was returned to parliament on 13 May 1741 as member for . Hammond then fell into bad health, and died at

Stowe House Stowe House is a grade I listed country house in Stowe, Buckinghamshire, England. It is the home of Stowe School, an independent school and is owned by the Stowe House Preservation Trust who have to date (March 2013) spent more than £25m on th ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

on 7 June 1742, while on a visit to Lord Cobham. Erasmus Lewis was left sole executor, but he declined to act, and Hammond's mother administered the estate.

Works

Hammond wrote

elegies An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, and in English literature usually a lament for the dead. However, according to ''The Oxford Handbook of the Elegy'', "for all of its pervasiveness ... the 'elegy' remains remarkably ill defined: sometime ...

, avowed imitations of

Tibullus Albius Tibullus ( BC19 BC) was a Latin poet and writer of elegies. His first and second books of poetry are extant; many other texts attributed to him are of questionable origins. Little is known about the life of Tibullus. There are only a fe ...

. By popular tradition, which has been doubted, he was in love with Kitty Dashwood, later a bedchamber woman to

Queen Charlotte Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Sophia Charlotte; 19 May 1744 – 17 November 1818) was Queen of Great Britain and of Ireland as the wife of King George III from their marriage on 8 September 1761 until the union of the two kingdoms ...

. The volume of poems was entitled ''Love Elegies by Mr. H——nd. Written in the year 1732. With Preface by the E. of C——d., 1743'', in which Chesterfield wrote a tribute. The elegies were included in

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

's, Robert Anderson's, and

Alexander Chalmers Alexander Chalmers (29 March 1759 – 29 December 1834) was a Scottish writer. He was born in Aberdeen. Trained as a doctor, he gave up medicine for journalism, and was for some time editor of the ''Morning Herald''. Besides editions of the wo ...

's collections of English poets; and were often republished, for example by

Thomas Park Thomas Park (1759–1834) was an English antiquary and bibliographer, also known as a literary editor. Life He was the son of parents who lived at East Acton, Middlesex. When ten years old he was sent to a grammar school at Heighington, County ...

in 1805 and George Dyer in 1818. The poems were mostly inscribed to Neæra or to Delia, but one was in praise of

George Grenville George Grenville (14 October 1712 – 13 November 1770) was a British Whig statesman who rose to the position of Prime Minister of Great Britain. Grenville was born into an influential political family and first entered Parliament in 1741 as an ...

, and another was pointedly addressed to Kitty Dashwood, and to this

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (née Pierrepont; 15 May 168921 August 1762) was an English aristocrat, writer, and poet. Born in 1689, Lady Mary spent her early life in England. In 1712, Lady Mary married Edward Wortley Montagu, who later served a ...

wrote an answer, printed in Dodsley's collection, iv. 73–8. In 1740 Hammond had written a prologue for

George Lillo George Lillo (3 February 1691 – 4 September 1739) was an English playwright and tragedian. He was also a jeweller in London. He produced his first stage work, ''Silvia, or The Country Burial'', in 1730, and a year later his most famous play, ...

's posthumous tragedy of ''

Elmerick ''Elmerick, or Justice Triumphant'' is a 1740 tragedy by the British writer George Lillo. It was performed posthumously following his death the year before.Bevis p.314 It portrays the assassination of Gertrude of Merania, the consort of Andrew II ...

'', which was acted at Drury Lane Theatre, and some additional poems by him and references to his compositions were in the ''Gentleman's Magazine'' for 1779, 1781, 1786, and 1787.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Hammond, James 1710 births 1742 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Truro British MPs 1741–1747 English male poets