William Kennedy


Life
1799-1871; b. Dublin, ed. Belfast College [later Royal Belfast Acad. Inst.; RBAI], 1819; ordained for the ministry but took to journalism; became editor in Paisley (Scotland), associated with the Paisley Magazine, and later in Hull; ed. The Continental Annual (1832), contrib. to The Amulet, 1829-31; wrote prose stories, My Early Days (aetat. 25), and An Only Son (1831), both anon.;
 
published Fitful Fancies, poem (Edinburgh 1827); The Arrow and the Rose and Other Poems (London 1830) and wrote The Siege of Antwerp (London 1838), a historical play; he acted as secretary to Lord Durham in Canada and was later appt. British Consul in Texas; issued Texas, the Rise, Progress and Prospects of the Republic of Texas, 2 vols. (London 1841); d. in Paris. PI RAF

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References
Patrick Rafroidi, Irish Literature in English, The Romantic Period, 1789-1850 (Gerrards Cross: Colin Smythe 1980), Vol. I; 1799-1871; b. Dublin, ed. Belfast, with J. Sheridan Knowles teaching, and Scotland, theolog; followed Byron’s example and served in the Greek revolution [Chk.]; ed. The Englishman’s Magazine (April-Oct 1831) - London; moved to the USA in 1838; appt. Consul in Texas, 1841-1847. d. Paris. Works include poems and prose; The Siege of Antwerp, 5 act hist. drama (1838); Texas, the Rise, Progress and Prospects of the Republic of Texas (London 1841). Commentaries, IBL II, 11 (1911). Also Life of W. Kennedy, Poet, Journalist and British Consul 1799-1871 (Dungannon, 1920) 57p.

D. J. O’Donoghue, Poets of Ireland (1912) adds a circumstantial discussion of his possible birth-places, his relationship with several Ulstermen, and errors in the standard American account of his death.

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