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. From this time, Shenstone encouraged Woodhouse's literary efforts, granting the shoe-maker access to his library. In January 1760, Woodhouse married Hannah Fletcher (who figures as "Daphne" in Woodhouse's writings) at Rowley Regis parish church. They were to have 6 children who were recorded in the local parish records as well as many still-born children. After Shenstone's death in 1763, Woodhouse managed to publish a collection of his poems, entitled "Poems on Sundry Occasions" (later republished as "Poems on Several Occasions") aided by a subscription made by his friends. The collection was published in 1764, and in the same year, a single poem by Woodhouse appeared in the second volume of a collection of the works of William Shenstone. By this time he had "two or three children". In his first published collection, Woodhouse also acknowledged the financial assistance of
Lord Dudley and Ward, who put the poet in possession of a free school worth £10 per annum. The publication of his work inspired a humorous letter to the St. James's Chronicle, which pointed out that shoemaking and poetry writing were not incompatible tasks: "he may surely, by no unnatural association of ideas, think at one and the same time of the Feet of his Verses and the Feet of his Customers; or Hammer out a line, while he is Hammering out the sole of a shoe." As the "shoe-maker poet", Woodhouse achieved some measure of fame and came to the notice of
Samuel Johnson, meeting the writer in 1765 at the invitation of
Hester Thrale. According to the later recollections of Mrs Thrale, Johnson advised the poet to: "give nights and days, sir, to the study of Addison, if you mean either to be a good writer, or, what is more worth, an honest man." In his
Life of Johnson,
James Boswell published some recollections of a friend of Johnson's, the Rev. Dr. William Maxwell of Falkland, Ireland, claiming that Johnson had made disparaging remarks about Woodhouse, stating: He spoke with much contempt of the notice taken of Woodhouse, the poetical shoemaker. He said, it was all vanity and childishness; and that such objects were, to those who patronised them, mere mirrors of their own superiority. 'They had better,' said he, 'furnish the man with good implements for his trade, than raise subscriptions for his poems. He may make an excellent shoemaker, but can never make a good poet. A schoolboy's exercise may be a pretty thing for a schoolboy; but it is no treat for a man.' Also in 1765, Woodhouse had an unfortunate meeting with the new owner of the Leasowes, Captain Turnpenny. Whilst walking through Shenstone's former property with his brother and a friend, Woodhouse was beaten by Turnpenny's servants, the new owner not recognising the poet. Oh! Shenstone! Shenstone! worthy ev'ry tear, Which Woodhouse, frantic sheds upon thy bier; Thy loss in him I ever would deplore, But Lyttleton commands I must no more; That patriot peer, with pity saw thy grief, and angel like administer'd relief
In the employ of the Montagus In 1767, Woodhouse found employment as a land bailiff on the
Sandleford estate of Elizabeth and
Edward Montagu. During his time back in his native region, Woodhouse suffered the loss of one of his daughters, Martha, who died of smallpox. In 1788, Woodhouse published a volume of poems with the same title as his 1766 book, but with different content, namely:
Poems on several occasions. These were the first poems that he published since entering the service of Elizabeth and Edward Montagu in 1767. The volume included an "Address to the Public" in which he laments his difficult financial position "with the addition of an unhealthy wife, by whom I have had twenty-seven children". The book, which included a poem in defence of King George III, was sold from premises at 10 Lower Brook Street, London. Woodhouse composed a number of poems during the following years although publication was delayed until the early years of the 19th century. In 1803, Woodhouse published a collection of poems entitled
Norbury Park and other poems, which he dedicated to William Locke, the owner of
Norbury Park. At this time he had a premises at 211 Oxford Street, London. He wrote a long autobiographical satirical narrative poem called
The Life and Lucubrations of Crispinus Scriblerus. The poem was published in part in 1815 but the complete poem was only published posthumously in 1896 by one of his descendants, the Rev. R.I. Woodhouse. The title of the work probably alludes to the
Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus, a work created by the group of 18th century writers known as the
Scriblerus Club, and Crispin the patron saint of shoemakers. The poem includes a very critical portrayal of Woodhouse's former patron, Elizabeth Montagu, which is thought be the reason for it not being published in full during his lifetime. tall, erect, venerable, almost patriarchal, in his appearance — in his black-velvet cap, from beneath which his grey locks descended upon his forehead, and on each side of his still fine face, — his long, black, loose gown, — and his benignant air — issuing from his little parlour with a stately step, as the tingling bell which hung over the shop door gave notice of a customer, when it was opened. Woodhouse died in 1820, his death brought about by a collision with a carriage whilst crossing the road, ==Poetical works==