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Thomas Hood (1799-1845)
Thomas Hood was the son of a Scottish bookseller, born in 1799 above his father's shop in Poultry, in the City of London. He was a popular writer of his time and contributed much to the poetry of the Romantic Era and early Victorian period.
In 1815, following poor health, he was sent to Dundee to recuperate where he wrote for the local newspaper. He returned to London in 1818, and three years later, he was appointed sub-editor of the London Magazine where he met Hazlitt, Lamb and John Reynolds. He later became editor of The Gem in 1829, and published works by poets such as Tennyson.
Known mostly during his lifetime for his mostly self-published comic writings, it is his more serious work that is best known today. His poem "The Song of the Shirt" was published anonymously in 1843 in Punch Magazine, and was a powerful attack on the exploitation of workers. It was reprinted in other newspapers across Europe, as well as in the London Times. It was dramatised by Mark Lemon as "The Sempstress", and was highly praised by many of the literary figures of the day, including Charles Dickens. It would be hard to imagine today the impact that a single poem could have had.
"I Remember, I Remember", another poem, is a dark reflection on his childhood from the perspective of maturity, which went on to inspire Philip Larkin to write a yet darker poem of his own childhood, under the same name.
Thomas came to live in Wanstead in 1832 and moved into Lake House, a run-down and dilapidated remnant of a folly that had been built in the grounds of Wanstead House. It had been built initially as a banqueting house by Sir Richard Child in around 1710, standing at the junction of Aldersbrook Road and Blake Hall Road.
During his stay in Wanstead, his son, also called Thomas, was born, and the entry from the Wanstead Parish Register of 1835 shows the record of his baptism. He also wrote one of his most famous novels while staying at Lake House, the three volume "Tylney Hall", published in 1834 and based on the life and goings on at Tylney Hall (i.e. Wanstead House, which had already been demolished some years before Hood took up residence at Lake House) and centres around the machinations of the Creole Walter Tyrrel in trying to usurp the place of his uncle's rightful heir. Methodism, the nouveau riche and the legal process are all singled out as targets for his wit.
Lake House, once serving as a grand summer house with a grand banqueting room, was damp and draughty, conditions which affected Hood's health. During his time in Wanstead, Thomas would spend time away in Brighton and Ramsgate recuperating from bouts of rheumatic fever.
He had a liking for guns, and would greet visitors with a salute from a miniature cannon. One of his enjoyed pastimes it is said, was to shoot sparrows and the many rabbits that infested the gardens from the adjoining forest.
He was a great practical joker, and one of England's greatest exponents of the pun. He featured Wanstead in his Comic Annuals, mixtures of story and verse, illustrated with his punning drawings.
Hood's financial situation was never very stable, and in 1835 he decided to leave Wanstead and Lake House to live abroad in order to save money while trying to repay his debts. He settled at Coblenz on the Rhine. His wife and children stayed with their friends the Elliots in Stratford until they could join him. Eventually his ill health forced him to return to England, at which time he had to sell the copyright of his novel "Tylney Hall" to raise suffiicient money to secure the release of his children who were detained in Ostend pending Hood's settlement of outstanding debts.
Thomas Hood died on 3rd May 1845, and was buried in Kensal Green cemetery where there is a monument to him to this present day.
See also these other related articles:
| Memorials of Thomas Hood | |
| Thomas Hood at Wanstead 1832-1835 | |