Editing Richard Barham (section)

==Life==
Richard Harris Barham was born in [[Canterbury]]. He was the illegitimate son of a local Alderman, also called Richard Harris Barham and a woman named Elizabeth Ffox.<ref>PROB 11/1265/308/</ref> When he was seven years old his father died, leaving him a small estate, part of which was the manor of Tappington, in [[Denton, Kent]], mentioned frequently in his later work ''[[The Ingoldsby Legends]]''. At nine he was sent to [[St Paul's School (London)|St Paul's School]], but his studies were interrupted by an accident that partly crippled his arm for life. Deprived of vigorous bodily activity, he became a great reader and diligent student.

During 1807 he entered [[Brasenose College, Oxford]], intending at first to study for the law, but deciding on a clerical career instead. In 1813 he was [[ordain]]ed and found a country [[curacy]] at [[Snargate]] in Romney Marsh, marrying Caroline Smart the following year. While there he wrote his first novel ''Baldwin'', published in 1820. He began his second novel, ''My Cousin Nicholas'', though this was not published until 1834.<ref>Alan Major. ''Thomas Ingoldsby of Tappington Hall'', Bygone Kent, Volume 9, September 1988</ref>

in 1821 he moved to London (to 51 [[Great Queen Street]]), after gaining a [[minor canon]]ry at London's [[St. Paul's Cathedral]], where he served as a [[Cardinal (Church of England)|cardinal]].<ref>[https://archive.org/details/TheNewCatholicDictionary ''The New Catholic Dictionary'' (1929), p. 189]</ref> Three years later he became one of the [[ordinary (officer)|priests in ordinary]] of the King's [[Chapel Royal]], appointed as  rector of [[St Mary Magdalen Old Fish Street|St Mary Magdalen]] and [[St Gregory by St Paul's]], living at [[Amen Corner, London|Amen Corner]] in St Paul's Churchyard.<ref>[https://doi-org.lonlib.idm.oclc.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/1376 Rosemary Scott. 'Barham, Richard Harris'] in ''The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (2004)</ref>
[[Image:Ingoldsby Legends dead drummer.jpg|thumb|Illustration by [[George Cruikshank]] for the 'Dead Drummer of [[Salisbury Plain]]', one of ''[[The Ingoldsby Legends]]''.]] 

He edited the ''[[London Chronicle]]'' in 1823, and in 1826 first contributed to ''[[Blackwood's Magazine]]''. In 1837 he began to contribute to the recently founded ''[[Bentley's Miscellany]]'' a series of tales (mostly metrical, some in prose) known as ''The Ingoldsby Legends''. These became popular and were published in collected form in three volumes between 1840 and 1847, and have since appeared in numerous editions. They may perhaps be compared to ''[[Hudibras]]''. The stories are generally whimsical, but based on antiquarian learning. There is also a collection of Barham's miscellaneous poems, edited posthumously by his son, called ''The Ingoldsby Lyrics''.

Barham was a political [[Tories (British political party)|Tory]], yet a lifelong friend of the liberal [[Sydney Smith]] and of [[Theodore Edward Hook|Theodore Hook]]. Barham, a contributor to the ''[[Edinburgh Review]]'', the ''[[Literary Gazette]]'' and [[John Gorton (writer)|John Gorton]]'s ''Biographical Dictionary'', also wrote a novel, ''My Cousin Nicholas'' (1834). He died in [[London]] on 17 June 1845, after a long and painful illness.