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A DETAILED CHRONOLOGY

FOR


EBENEZER  ELLIOTT





Listed below are lots of information about Ebenezer Elliott in the form of two Chronologies. Taken together, the two chronologies probably constitute the most detailed listing available for the life of the Poet of the Poor.

The first  chronology gives a most comprehensive listing of the many events in the life of the bard.

The second chronology
is a list of many of Elliott's poems with the dates when they first were published.


MAIN EVENTS OF THE BARD'S LIFE
 
1781    Born 17th March at Masbrough, Rotherham
1783    Brother Ely died, aged one
1786    Brother Giles born

1786    Sister Sophia Ann born and died 6 weeks later

1787    Caught smallpox & was blind for 6 weeks
1789    At Hollis School, Rotherham
1790    Brother Jacob born
1790    "Ran away" from home to Thurlstone & went to school in nearby Penistone
1791    Still at Thurlstone
1791    Sister Ann born
1791    Brother Jacob died, aged 21 months
1792    Fell in love with Miss Ridgeway, later called Mrs Woodcock
1795    Now a keen reader
1796    Saw public flogging of a fellow Masbrough boy called Yates on Rotherham High Street
1797    Started work at the New Foundry, Masbbrough, for zero wages
1801    First poem published (The Vernal Walk)
1805    Started receiving wages at his father's foundry
1806    Married Fanny on April 10th (& probably became a partner in the foundry?)
1807    Ebenezer, first son, born on 2nd July
1808    Wrote letter to Southey & received a reply
1809    Son Benjamin born
1811    Son Henry born
1812    Son William born
1812    Sister Ann died, aged 20
1813    Accosted Lord Byron at the Old Bank, Rotherham
1814    Son Charles born
1815    Son Francis Green born, always known as Frank
1815    Ebenezer's mother died
1816    Son George Edwin born, always known as Edwin
1816    Ebenezer went bankrupt 
1817    Sale of bankrupt assets
1818    Son Thomas born
1819    Migrated on a horse & cart to Sheffield living in the town centre
1821    Daughter Fanny Ann born
1821    Directory of Sheffield lists Elliott living at 61 Burgess St
1822    Father died
1822    Son John Gartside born
1823    Met Southey in Sheffield with James Montgomery on Nov 7th
1824    Brother Giles died aged 28
1824    Daughter Noah born
1824    Correspondence with Southey finished
1825    Sheffield directory listed him as an iron & steel merchant on Burgess St
1828    Again listed as iron & steel merchant on Burgess St
1829    Listed with premises
on Gibraltar Street as well as Burgess St
1830    Founded Sheffield Mechanics' Anti-Bread Tax Society
1830    Corn Law Rhymes first published as "The Ranter"
1831    Corn Law Rhymes reviewed by Bulwer Lytton in New Monthly Review, March 19th
1831    Signed petition to T. A. Ward to stand as MP
1831    On jury service
1832    Dissolved Sheffield Mechanics' Anti-Bread Society
1832    Corn Law Rhymes reviewed in Edinburgh Review by Thomas Carlisle
1832    Appointed Special Constable for Burgess St
1832    30,000 people marched in Sheffield to celebrate passing of the Reform Bill, incl 5,000 from the Political Union
1832    Nominated (with others) as prospective candidate for Sheffield
1833    Sheffield directory listed him as iron & steel manufacturer at Burgess St & Gibraltar St
1833    Son Thomas died, aged 15
1833    Addressed Paradise Sq meeting on the Irish Bill & on Taxation
1834    Helped set up Sheffield Anti-Corn Law Society
1834    First Collected Edition of Works appeared, 3 vols
1834    Sheffield directory listed him only at Gibraltar St, no longer at Burgess St
1834    Rents large house on Blake Grove Road in Upperthorpe, Sheffield. [Now a Grade 2 Listed building]
1834    In court & fined 5 shillings plus costs for assault on George Dickenson
1834    Elected Vice President of the Mechanics' Institute. [James Montgomery: President]
1835    Member of the Sheffield Association For The Opposition Of Fraudulent Insolvent Debtors
1835    Appointed Special Constable for Portmahon and Upperthorpe
1836    Helped set up the London Anti-Corn Law Society
1836    Visited Harrogate, Castle Howard & Brimham Rocks
1837    Sheffield directory listed him as steel converter & refiner as well as iron & steel merchant   
1837    A depression in trade: Elliott calculated he lost £3,000
1837    Son William died
1837    Gave 3 lectures on poetry at Leeds Literary Institution
1837    Lectured on Cowper & Burns at Sheffield Mechanics' Institute
1838    Speech as Sheffield delegate on the platform at the Chartist Meeting, Palace Yard, Westminster on Sept 17th
1838    Jury service in York
1838    Presided  at Sheffield meeting on the Charter
1838    Bought land at Loxley, Sheffield
1838    Visited by Samuel Smiles
1838    John Watkins rode 100 miles from Whitby to Sheffield for his first meeting with Elliott
1839    Blackballed by the Sheffield Literary & Philosophical Society
1839    Left the Chartist movement  
1839    Left the Sheffield Working Men's Society on May 6th
1839    Stood bail for Peter Foden who was arrested for sedition. (2 years later Elliott forfeited the bail money)
1839    John Watkins, friend, future son-in-law and biographer of Elliott, also arrested for sedition
1839    Portraits by Birch, Poole, Moore & Paulson on display at Sheffield Mechanics' Institute Exhibition
1840    Gifted son Benjamin £350 of warehouse stock
1840    Attended Manchester Anti-Corn Law dinner
1840    Sheffield Anti-Corn Law petition with 7,000 signatures
1840    Visited at his workshop by the American lawyer and anti-slavery reformer H. B. Stanton
1840    Gave lecture "Poetry And Poets" at the Second Exhibition of the Mechanics' Institute   
1841    Wrote a fragment of autobiography
1841    Moved to Hargate Hill near Great Houghton on Jan 21st. The house and 10 acres cost £1250
1841    The Upperthorpe house was valued at £36 12 shillings, while the garden was £6 12 shillings
1841    Sheffield Mechanics' Institute made him Hon. Member For Life
1842    Gifted 22 books of his own collection to the Mechanics' Library, Sheffield
1843    Wrote to William Wordsworth
1847    Visited by William Howitt (writer & newspaper proprietor) and Margaret Gillies, artist
1848    Wrote his will
1849    Planted 2 Indian pines in Sheffield Botanical Gardens
1849    Visited by Samuel Smiles (2nd visit) and William Bridges Adam, railway engineer
1849    Daughter Fanny Ann married Nov 17th John Watkins
1849    Died Saturday morning December 1st, aged 68. Buried at Darfield Church
1850    Biography of Elliott by John Watkins, "Life, Poetry And Letters Of Ebenezer Elliott, The Corn Law Rhymer"
1850    John Watkins died, aged 40
1854    Elliott's statue erected in Market Place, Sheffield
1875    Statue moved to Weston Park, Sheffield



A LIST OF POEMS WITH PUBLICATION DATES


This table should not be taken as a complete list of Elliott's poems: it only lists those where a publication date has been identified.

In the table below, some of the "Dates Published" may be debatable.  Sometimes a poem has been discovered in a newspaper or a journal and this appearance is used as publication date;  this could be misleading as the poem could have been composed earlier. Where a date is followed by a question mark, this indicates uncertainty about the date.  Where a poem is followed by  round brackets (   ), this indicates either Elliott's subtitle or the first line of the poem. Where square brackets are used [   ], this shows notes added by this website.

After the publication of The Ranter in 1830, the attention the poem received gave a great boost to Elliott and inspired him to increase his output. At the same time, the new found fame gave greater public attention to Elliott's work and led to more of his poems being taken seriously and being recorded for future generations.



Date Published Name of the Poem Age of the Poet
1801The Vernal Walk  [Known to be written in 1798 when Elliott was aged 17. Was published later, anonymously]20
1809On A Snowdrop Seen By Moonlight    [see  NEW POEMS 1 ]28
1810The Soldier  [Published under the pseudonym BRITANNICUS]29
1810?Elegy On Eliza    [see NEW POEMS 2]   [Probably written in 1810; publication was 1820 and again in 1836]29
1818Miranion37
1818Night  [Published anonymously]37
1819To The Rev J. B. - [ie Jacob Brettell, Unitarian minister in Rotherham, a teacher & a poet]38
1820Peter Faultless  To His Brother Simon [Published anonymously]39
1820
Bothwell
39
1820Ilderim  [a biblical name]   [First published in the above volume]39
1820Elegy On Eliza    [see NEW POEMS 2]   [Written in 1810; publication was 1820 in the Peter Faultless volume, and again in 1836]39
1823Love (A Poem In Three Parts) 42
1824Scotch Nationality43
1824They Met Again43
1828?The Recording Angel47
1829 The Village Patriarch 48
1830The Ranter [actually called Corn Law Rhymes: The Ranter - but it only  contained the one poem:  namely The Ranter]49
1830Elegy  (O Huskisson! O Huskisson)49
1830 The Dying Boy To The Sloe Blossom 49
1831Napoleon  [see  NEW POEMS 1 ]50
1831They Met In Heaven   [original title was Byron and Napoleon; They Met In Heaven was the subtitle]50
1831Corn Law Rhymes [2nd ed, 26 pages. Published by the Sheffield Mechanics' Anti-Bread Tax Society]50
1831Corn Law Rhymes [3rd ed, 116 pages. Published by B. Steill]50
1832I Know Thou Hast Gone [see  NEW POEMS 1 ]51
1832? Parting Tears 51
1832The Revolution Of 183251
1832The Land of Castes   [see  NEW POEMS 1 ]51
1832 Preston Mills 51
1832
The Heroes of Cutlerdom
51
1832From Goethe51
1832? Rhymed Rambles 51
1832 Spring 51
1832Hymn  (Written For The Rotherham Political Union)51
1832 The Primrose 51
1832The Triumph Of Reform51
1832 The Wonders Of The Lane 51
1833The Footpath   [see  NEW POEMS 1 ]52
1833Forest Worship52
1833 Battle Song 52
1833 Hymn (Written for the printers of Sheffield) 52
1833Famine In A Slave Ship52
1833The Polish Fugitives52
1833Thomas  [Elliott's son Thomas born  1818 & died aged 15 in 1833]52
1833Lines On A Lock Of Hair52
1833 May 52
1833
Win-Hill
52
1833Elegy
52
1833A Shadow52
1833The Fatal Birth52
1833Steam at Sheffield  [initially entitled Steam, A Poem]52
1833Pay-All's Prayer52
1833Song (Oh know ye what Sheffield has trusted and gotten?)   [see  NEW POEMS 1 ]52
1833?Withered Wild Flowers52
1833The Splendid Village52
1834A Song In Exile53
1834Don And Rother53
1835Canning54
1835Stanza  (The Gnat Sings Through Its Little Day)  [see  NEW POEMS 1 ]54
1835 Elegy On William Cobbett  [Initially entitled William Cobbett. The Elegy adds an extra verse] 54
1835Stanzas Spenserian    [see NEW POEMS 2]54
1835Transplanted Flowers54
1835A New Churchyard   [An earlier version was called Lines: On Seeing Unexpectedly A New Church etc,. Several identical lines] 54
1835
The Sinless Cain
54
1835Lines (Written After Seeing The Plates of Audobon's Plates Of America)54
1835A Poet's Epitaph54
1835Kerhonah54
1836To The Wood Anemone In A Day Of Clouds    [see NEW POEMS 2]55
1836Songs 1  (Broom glowed in the valley)    [see NEW POEMS 2]55
1836 Sabbath Morning 55
1836
The Pilgrim Fathers
55
1836The Artizan's Holiday  [see NEW POEMS 2]55
1836 A Poet 55
1836The Rejected   [orinally appeared as Songs 2 with the first line as the subtitle]55
1836 Eugene Aram 55
1836The Starvation Valve    [see NEW POEMS 2]55
1836 Poet v Parson 55
1836Inscriptions  [not to be confused with 2 other poems called Inscription]    [see NEW POEMS 2]55
1836Inscription   (Stay here, seducer! stop awhile)    [see NEW POEMS 2]55
1836The Wild Honeysuckle    [see NEW POEMS 2]   [Earlier version On Seeing A Wild Honeysuckle In Flower written in 1817]55
1836Rainbowed May   [initially entitled Songs 3 with the first line as the subtitle]55
1836Taste  55
1836Song   (Sleep, sleep, my love! thy gentle bard)55
1836
Castle Howard, Brimham Rocks,  Brimham, Rock Idol, Trees At Brimham, Bolton Abbey, Fountains Abbey, Studley, Parting Tears
55
1836
Return To Sheffield
55
1836?My First Sonnet   [ initially entitled Sonnet. The later title suggests the poem was written earlier than 1836]55
1837The Beggar   [see  NEW POEMS 1 ] 56
1838Coronation Ode57
1838To Thomas Crossley57
1838Colonel Thompson In Palace Yard57
1838The Storming of Abajoz   [see  NEW POEMS 1 ]57
1838Hymn  (Nurse of the Pilgrim Sires)57
1838Hymn (God of the poor)   [see  NEW POEMS 1 ]57
1838On The Coronation Of Victoria The First57
1838Song (They say I'm old)57
1838Verses (On  the opening of the Sheffield & Rotherham Railway)57
1838Sonnet  (Kind Cynthia! on my wakeful bed of care)   [see  NEW POEMS 1 ]57
1839Ribbledin58
1839
Darby Gill
58
1839Sonnet  (By sad mishaps chained to my weary bed)   [see  NEW POEMS 1 ]58
1839Hannah Ratcliffe58
1839
Hood Hill Hymn
58
1839Hymn Of The Bread Taxed   [see  NEW POEMS 1 ]58
1840Ode On The Marriage Of Victoria The First59
1840Poor Charles   [Charles Pemberton died 1840. For notes on him, see Friends & Contacts of the Corn Law Rhymer]59
1840?The Letter59
1840Poetical Works ([Tait's edition]59
1840The Poor Man's Day59
1842British Rural Cottages In 184260
1843The Corn Law Rhymer In The Country    [see NEW POEMS 2] 62
1844Monopoly the Bane of England   [see  NEW POEMS 1 ]63
1844
England in 1844    [see   NEW POEMS 2         Also includes an Elliott letter ] 63
1844
English Rural Felicity, And Agricultural Mind, In 1844
63
1844A British Marseillaise   [see  NEW POEMS 1 ]63
1845Lines Written For The Sheffield Complete Suffrage Soiree   [see  NEW POEMS 1 ]64
1846A Song Of Corn Law Repeal   [see  NEW POEMS 1 ]65
1846
Britain In February 1846
65
1847Epitaph (For a monument to Major Cartwright)66
1847
Hymn: (The deed is done,the end begun;)
66
1847
Doggrel For Dupes
66
1848The People's Anthem [May have been written the previous year]67
1848We Are Not Lonely, Kinderscout!67
1848?The Home Of Taste67
1848The Year Of Seeds67
1848
A Plea For Lamartine
67
1848
Etheline
67
1848
Bully Idle's Prayer
67
1849
Anniversary Monody On Protection
68
1849Last Lines68
1849Let Me Rest68
1849Sonnet XXX68
1849Song  (Hungarians! would ye despots quell)   [see  NEW POEMS 1 ]68
1850Woman  [Appeared in the USA as "Woman's Mission" in The North StarPosthumously
1850More Verse And Prose [2 vols]Posthumously



After the publication of The Ranter in 1830, the attention the poem received gave a great boost to Elliott and inspired him to increase his output. At the same time, the new found fame gave greater public attention to Elliott's work and led to more of his poems being taken seriously and being recorded for future generations.



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