Digital Victorian Periodical Poetry

Working-class poet, trained as a cobbler. Born in Suffolk. Father was the village tailor and died when Bloomfield was an infant. Bloomfield’s mother, a school teacher, educated him at home. Around 1878 went to live with his paternal uncle, who worked as a labourer on the Duke of Grafton’s farm. The duke subsequently became Bloomfield’s patron. In 1781 Bloomfield moved to London and was apprenticed to a shoemaker. He also began to make aeolian harps. Married Mary-Anne Church on 12 December 1790. Author of *The Farmer’s Boy* (1800), which made him a celebrity although he continued to experience severe financial difficulties. Also author of *Rural Tales, Ballads, and Songs* (1801), *Wild Flowers, or, Pastoral and Local Poetry* (1806), *The Banks of the Wye: a Poem* (1811), *May-Day with the Muses* (1820). Bloomfield moved to Shefford, Bedfordshire, in 1812, but continued to make visits to London. Strongly influenced by John Clare’s poetry towards the end of his life. Biographical information: *ODNB*. (AC)