Robert Bloomfield (1766 - 1823)

Born 3 Dec 1766 in Honington, Suffolk, England

Ancestors

Husband of Mary Ann (Church) Bloomfield — married 12 Dec 1790 in London, England

Died 19 Aug 1823 at age 56 in Shefford, Bedfordshire, England, United Kingdom

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Biography

Robert Bloomfield was born in Suffolk, England.

Robert was a Shoemaker

Robert Bloomfield is Notable.

Robert Bloomfield the son of George Blomfield and Elizabeth Manby was baptised on 8 Feb 1767 at Honington, Suffolk.^[1]

In 1790 he married Mary Ann Church, the daughter of a boat builder, in London, England.^[2][3] "Her name was Mary Anne, daughter to Joseph Church, a boat-builder in the dock-yard at Woolwich. The marriage was solemnized on the 12th of December 1790."^[4]

Bloomfield apprenticed as a shoemaker in London under his brother George, and also built aeolian harps after 1812, but is remembered as a poet. His best known poem is The Farmer's Boy (1800).^[5]

"Robert Bloomfield (3 December 1766 – 19 August 1823) was an English labouring-class poet, whose work is appreciated in the context of other self-educated writers, such as Stephen Duck, Mary Collier and John Clare."^[6]

Bloomfield visited South Wales in 1807 and as a result wrote The Banks of Wye (1811).^[2][7]

"ROBERT BLOOMFIELD, the poet, has not hitherto been reckoned as a member of our family, but in point of fact he was second cousin to both my grandfathers, C. J. Blomfield of London and James of Orsett. The relationship was through Isaac of Ousden. Among his numerous children by his first wife Isaac had a son named George, who must have been born before 1726. This George was the grandfather of Robert Bloomfield the poet and great-uncle of my two grandfathers, see p. 31, note 1. His branch of the family remained in very humble circumstances. Robert the poet was a cobbler, but he and his brother and sister must have been exceptional people. "The Farmer's Boy" had an extraordinary and not entirely ill-deserved success, but I am more impressed by the letters of the poet and his brother and sister. They are excellent reading, unaffected and perfectly well written. The writers seem to have been shrewd, observant, and kindly people, without any trace of provincialism, and, considering their antecedents and circumstances, they must have been a remarkable family."^[8]

See sources below for more comprehensive biographical data.

Sources

Footnotes and citations:

1. ↑ Baptism: "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JQDX-MX2 : 19 September 2020), Robert Blomfield, 1767.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} The Georgian Era, Vol 3 Vizetelley, Branston and Co., Fleet Street, London [1834] pp. 421-422
3. ↑ Note: Page 421 states that he married the daughter of a boat builder in 1790. Per his letter of May 1806 "Old Mr Church is failing fast in health ...", a reference to his father-in-law, who was living with the family. The complete forename Mary Ann can be found in daughter Mary Ann (1793)'s baptismal record, as well as that of son Robert (1804).
4. ↑ Marriage: The Unique, Vol 1 George Smeeton, Old Bailey, London [1824]
5. ↑ Romantic Circles The Farmer's Boy (1800) : 15 Nov 2020
6. ↑ Wikipedia: Robert Bloomfield
7. ↑ Note: The reference says New South Wales but in a letter to his brother Isaac dated 16 Jul 1807 Bloomfield states that he had been invited to visit "Goucestershire and South Wales." He certainly wasn't out of England long enough to have visited the antipodes.
8. ↑ A Suffolk Family by Sir Reginald Blomfield RA [1916], Appendix II

Source list:

• "Nathaniel our Great Great Grandfather had a brother called Robert, and he was a poet called Robert Bloomfield." - email from Barbara Thompson on 14 Nov 2020 : Rob Judd
• The Georgian Era, Vol 3 Vizetelley, Branston and Co., Fleet Street, London [1834]
• The Unique, Vol 1 George Smeeton, Old Bailey, London [1824]
• Project Gutenberg Works by Robert Bloomfield
• Romantic Circles The letters of Robert Bloomfield and his Circle
• The British Museum Robert Bloomfield
• Wikipedia: Robert_Bloomfield
• Romantic Circles: Robert Bloomfield

See also

FamilySearch: Robert Bloomfield

Wikidata: Item Q3434598, en:Wikipedia