William Hayley (9 November 174512 November 1820) was an English writer, best known as the biographer of his friend

William Cowper William Cowper ( ; 26 November 1731 – 25 April 1800) was an English poet and Anglican hymnwriter. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th-century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and sce ...

Biography

Born at

Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ci ...

, he was sent to

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

in 1757, and to

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...

, in 1762; his connection with the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, where he was admitted in 1766, was merely nominal. In 1767 he left Cambridge and went to live in London. His private means enabled Hayley to live on his patrimonial estate at

Eartham Eartham is a village and civil parish in the District of Chichester in West Sussex, England located north east of Chichester east of the A285 road. There is an Anglican parish church dedicated to St Margaret and a public house, The George, fo ...

, Sussex, and he retired there in 1774. The location of this house in Eartham is now occupied by the

Great Ballard School Great Ballard School is a co-educational independent school for children aged 2½ to 16 years. It was founded in 1924 and set up at its current location in Eartham, near Chichester, West Sussex, England, in 1961. The headmaster is Matthew King. ...

. So great was Hayley's fame that on

Thomas Warton Thomas Warton (9 January 172821 May 1790) was an English literary historian, critic, and poet. He was appointed Poet Laureate in 1785, following the death of William Whitehead. He is sometimes called ''Thomas Warton the younger'' to disti ...

's death in 1790 he was offered the laureateship, which he refused. In 1792, while writing the ''Life'' of Milton, Hayley made Cowper's acquaintance. A warm friendship sprang up between the two which lasted till Cowper's death in 1800. Hayley indeed was mainly instrumental in getting Cowper his pension. In 1800 Hayley also lost his natural son,

Thomas Alphonso Hayley Thomas Alphonso Hayley (5 October 1780 – 2 May 1800) was an English sculptor. Life Hayley, the natural son of William Hayley, was born in 1780, and showed in 1794 signs of a love for sculpture. He was encouraged to learn drawing by Joseph Wrigh ...

, to whom he was devotedly attached. He had been a pupil of

John Flaxman John Flaxman (6 July 1755 – 7 December 1826) was a British sculptor and draughtsman, and a leading figure in British and European Neoclassicism. Early in his career, he worked as a modeller for Josiah Wedgwood's pottery. He spent several ye ...

's, to whom Hayley's ''Essay on Sculpture'' (1800) is addressed. Flaxman introduced

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

to Hayley, and after the latter had moved in 1800 to his marine hermitage at

Felpham Felpham (, sometimes pronounced locally as ''Felf-fm'') is a village and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. Although sometimes considered part of the urban area of greater Bognor Regis, it is a village and civil parish in ...

, Sussex. Blake settled near him for three years to engrave the illustrations for the ''Life of Cowper''. This, Hayley's best known work, was published in 1803–1804 (Chichester) in 5 vols. Hayley died at Felpham on 12 November 1820. Mrs William Hayley, née Mary Welford, by English School of ca 1790

Mrs William Hayley, née Mary Welford, by English School of ca 1790

Works

Hayley had already written occasional poems, when in 1771 his

tragedy Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...

, ''The Afflicted Father'', was rejected by

David Garrick David Garrick (19 February 1717 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil and friend of Sa ...

. In the same year his translation of

Pierre Corneille Pierre Corneille (; 6 June 1606 – 1 October 1684) was a French tragedian. He is generally considered one of the three great seventeenth-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine. As a young man, he earned the valuable patronag ...

's ''Rodogune'' as ''The Syrian Queen'' was also declined by George Colman. Hayley won the fame he enjoyed amongst his contemporaries by his poetical ''Essays and Epistles''; a ''Poetical Epistle to an Eminent Painter'' (1778), addressed to his friend George Romney, an ''Essay on History'' (1780), in three epistles, addressed to

Edward Gibbon Edward Gibbon (; 8 May 173716 January 1794) was an English historian, writer, and member of parliament. His most important work, ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788, is k ...

; ''Essay on Epic Poetry'' (1782) addressed to

William Mason William, Willie, or Willy Mason may refer to: Arts and entertainment *William Mason (poet) (1724–1797), English poet, editor and gardener *William Mason (architect) (1810–1897), New Zealand architect *William Mason (composer) (1829–1908), Ame ...

; ''A Philosophical Essay on Old Maids'' (1785); and the ''Triumphs of Temper'' (1781). The last-mentioned work was so popular as to run to twelve or fourteen editions; together with the ''Triumphs of Music'' (Chichester, 1804) it was ridiculed by

Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...

in ''English Bards and Scotch Reviewers''. His 1789 tragedy ''

Marcella Marcella is a Roman cognomen and Italian given name, the feminine version of Marcello (Mark in English). Marcella means warlike, martial, and strong. It could also mean 'young warrior'. The origin of the name Marcella is Latin. Marcella may refer ...

'' was performed at

Drury Lane Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster. Notable landmarks ...

. In 1805 he published ''Ballads founded on Anecdotes of Animals'' (Chichester), with illustrations by Blake, and in 1809 ''The Life of Romney''. For the last twelve years of his life Hayley received an allowance for writing his ''Memoirs''.

Legacy

In 2007, the exhibition "Poets in the Landscape: the Romantic Spirit in British Art" curated by Simon Martin and held at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester explored Hayley's role as patron and friend of artists including

, George Romney,

and

Joseph Wright of Derby Joseph Wright (3 September 1734 – 29 August 1797), styled Joseph Wright of Derby, was an English landscape and portrait painter. He has been acclaimed as "the first professional painter to express the spirit of the Industrial Revolution". Wr ...

.Attempts toward fame and fortune: Joseph Wright of Derby and late-renaissance Humanism.
Free Library It was appropriate that the gallery's new wing is situated on 8 North Pallant, which formed part of the house in which Hayley was born. A portrait of Hayley by George Romney is currently on long-term display in the gallery.

Family

In 1769 Hayley married Eliza Ball (1750-1797), daughter of Thomas Ball, dean of Chichester. Eliza Ball Hayley was a translator and an essayist. She translated into English two essays by the French essayist Anna Thèrese de Lambert (1647 – 1733), ''Traité de l’Amitié'' (1732) and ''Traité de la Vieillesse'' (1732), published in 1780 as ''Essays on Friendship and Old Age by the Marchioness de Lambert''. Sixteen years later she published an original essay, ''The Triumph of Acquaintance over Friendship: an Essay for the Times'' (1796). She died in 1797; after being separated from William since 1789. He attributed the mental illness she suffered as reasoning for the separation. He married in 1809 Mary Welford, but they also separated after three years. He left no child.

References

External links