James Woodhouse

James Woodhouse (1735–1820) was an English poet from the Black Country village of Rowley Regis. He was known as the "shoe-maker poet" from his trade that supported him during his early years. He made the acquaintance of the poet William Shenstone, who lived nearby, and was encouraged by him to write poetry. In 1764 a collection of his poems was published with the financial assistance of his friends and he acquired some fame as a writer of "humble" beginnings. He acquired literary patrons, the most of important being the "bluestocking" Elizabeth Montagu, who also became his employer. After a dispute with Montagu, he left her service and his final years were spent in London, where he set up a bookselling business. He died in 1820 and was buried at the cemetery of St George's Chapel, near Marble Arch in London. Life Early life James Woodhouse was born in Rowley Regis in the Black Country region of England in 1735. He was the son of Joseph and Mary Woodhouse, owners of a farm, who had him baptized at St. Giles, the parish church, on 18 April 1735. At this time, the area around Rowley Regis village, which was sited on a ridge crossing the Black Country, was largely rural, although the hand-made nail trade was well established in the district. According to one source, Woodhouse was "taken from school" at the age of seven having learnt only to read and write. He took up the trade of shoe-maker, which supported him and his family in his early years. According to the introduction to his first published collection, Woodhouse developed an "invincible inclination to reading and an insatiable thirst after knowledge" at the age of eighteen, from when he "expended all his little perquisites in the purchase of magazines". He started writing poetry, to the alarm of his father who considered it a distraction from his work, and made the acquaintance of the poet William Shenstone, who lived nearby at the Leasowes in Halesowen. Becomes a published poet