Rose was born in the
West Indies in 1806 or 1808, and is believed to have migrated to
Salford as a child. Though himself a gentleman of independent means, he was associated with a group of working class poets known as
the Sun Inn Group, who met regularly at the Sun Inn on Long Millgate, Manchester. This group included
John Critchley Prince,
Charles Swain,
John Bolton Rogerson,
Elijah Ridings, Rose was said to have been the first to buy a copy of
Philip James Bailey's 1839 poem
Festus, which had been slow to leave the shelves of Wilmot Henry Jones, 'the 'Manchester Moxon, the provincial poets printer'. The Chartist bookbinder Benjamin Stott included a sonnet to Rose in his
Songs for the millions, and other poems (1843). The
Kilmarnock poet John Ramsay dedicated his 1844 collection
Woodnotes of a Wanderer to Rose. Most of Rose's verse was published in newspapers, though two poems,
The Coronation (1838) and
The Bazaar (1839) were published separately. A manuscript of Rose's poetry is held at
Chetham's Library. ==Works==