Editing Richard Barham

{{Redirect|Thomas Ingoldsby|the Member of Parliament|Thomas Ingoldsby (politician)}}
{{For|the Australian footballer|Ricky Barham}}
{{Short description|English cleric, novelist and poet 1788–1845}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox person 
|name = Richard Harris Barham 
|image = Thomas Ingoldsby.png 
|birth_date = {{birth date|1788|12|6|df=y}} 
|birth_place = [[Canterbury]], [[Kent]], England
|death_date = {{death date and age|1845|6|17|1788|12|6|df=y}} 
|death_place = London, England
|nationality = English
|other_names = Thomas Ingoldsby 
|occupation = cleric, novelist, humorous poet 
|notable_works = ''Ingoldsby Legends''
}}
'''Richard Harris Barham''' (6 December 1788 – 17 June 1845) was an English cleric of the [[Church of England]], a novelist and a humorous poet. He was known generally by his pseudonym '''Thomas Ingoldsby''' and as the author of ''[[The Ingoldsby Legends]]''.

==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.

==Legacy==
Barham is a character in [[George MacDonald Fraser]]'s historical novel ''[[Flashman's Lady]]'', he meets the main character, [[Harry Flashman]], while watching a public execution.

His last poem ''[[As I laye a-thynkynge]],'' was set to music by the English composer [[Edward Elgar]], the song published in 1888. And in 1918 the composer [[Cyril Rootham]] set the same poem, for voice and piano.

There is a Wetherspoons pub in Burgate, [[Canterbury]], near the cathedral, named ''The Thomas Ingoldsby''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk/home/pubs/the-thomas-ingoldsby |title=The Thomas Ingoldsby, Canterbury &#124; Our Pubs |publisher=J D Wetherspoon |date=1997-04-10 |accessdate=2014-04-17}}</ref>

There is a memorial to him at [[St Paul's Cathedral]].<ref>"Memorials of St Paul's Cathedral" [[William Sinclair (Archdeacon of London)|Sinclair, W.]] p. 465: London; Chapman & Hall, Ltd; 1909.</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Barham, Richard Harris}}

==Further reading==
*{{Cite book |title=The Life and Letters of the Rev. Richard Harris Barham, author of the Ingoldsby legends: with a selection from his miscellaneous poems |editor-first=R. H. Dalton |editor-last=Barham |location=London |publisher=Richard Bentley |year=1870 |volume=1 |url=https://archive.org/details/lifelettersofrev01ingo }}
*Elwin, Malcolm. ''Victorian Wallflowers'', Jonathan Cape, 1934. (chapter 3) 
*{{Cite book |author=Wilson, Edmund |title=The Devils and Canon Barham, pp. 3–18 |location=New York |publisher=Farrar Straus Giroux |year=1973 |url=https://archive.org/details/lifeandlettersr03barhgoog}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{wikisource author}}
{{commons category|Richard Harris Barham}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Richard Harris Barham |birth=1788 |death=1845}}
* {{Librivox author |id=283}}
* {{cite book |last1=Hutchinson |first1=John |title=Men of Kent and Kentishmen |date=1892 |publisher=Cross & Jackman |location=Canterbury |pages=10–12 |edition=Subscription |chapter=[[s:Men of Kent and Kentishmen/Richard Harris Barham|Richard Harris Barham]]}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Barham, Richard Harris}}
[[Category:1788 births]]
[[Category:1845 deaths]]
[[Category:Writers from London]]
[[Category:19th-century pseudonymous writers]]
[[Category:Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford]]
[[Category:People educated at St Paul's School, London]]
[[Category:19th-century English Anglican priests]]
[[Category:Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery]]
[[Category:Writers from Canterbury]]
[[Category:People from Dover District]]